The Escape Artist Review

• 25th Oct 2011

Charming and cynical in the same measure, The Escape Artist stars Danny, the son of a famous magician who hopes to go into the same line of work. Unfortunately, he gets mixed up with some very dangerous characters and realises too late that he’s out of his depth.

The Escape Artist starts off as a film about a boy trying to connect with a father who’s passed away. Danny hopes to do this by breaking out of the same prison that his father dies escaping from. He charms a local waitress into becoming his assistant and is seemingly confident and in control. But the seedy world he becomes embroiled with is so alien to anything he’s able to cope with, the film shifts into a very sad story. The ending of the film does it no favours and the change in tempo is quite confusing. At one point we’re enjoying illusions and it seems to be going in a fairly positive direction. Once he gets mixed up with the Mayors son, Stu, that all changes. It’s never quite clear why Danny has decided to go to Stu for employment.

It becomes a story about a child struggling to be safe, no-one is looking out for him. His father has died, his mother has run away, his uncle wants nothing to do with him and his aunt’s half-hearted attempts to create a family life aren’t convincing enough for Danny to want to stay. He finally goes to Stu, thinking that he’s important and a great con artist himself; someone he can learn from. He’s an orphan who’s abandoned and let down by every adult he comes across and he never quite gets the upper hand.

Danny, played by Griffin O’Neal, has a natural magicians charm about him. His acting is on par, if not better, than the older actors around him. He manages to exude a confidence that belies his age, and the two scenes where he becomes emotional are the only heartfelt moments in the film. Griffin O’Neal however, didn’t enjoy further success and in 1986 caused the death of Francis Ford Coppolla son Gian-Carlo. This and a substance abuse problem put his career on a downward spiral, which is a shame in an actor that showed real promise.

The strongest theme of the film, one that gets the attention it deserves, is the circumstances around Danny’s father’s death. As he realises how it would have played out, Danny takes the same steps but escapes where is father could not. His father is no longer the great magician that Danny has always thought he was and he goes back to see his aunt and uncle, also magicians. He sees the truth about their illusion also, which disappoints him again. He’s now seeing through everyone he’s run to. In the next scene, he sees Stu, who instead of being grateful to Danny, tries to kill him. There’s no one left to emulate.

This isn’t a children’s film and has some sinister moments as his relationship with Stu goes sour. Raul Julia of The Adams Family fame plays Stu with a manic strangeness. He includes the same eccentricities, but its not endearing, but disconcerting. The last scenes, where he chases after Danny with a murderous intent are grotesque. The idea of a very young child being chased by a knife-wielding maniac through empty streets is a very distressing note to end on.

There are a lot of loose ends to the film that are never fully explained. The biggest loose end is the ending itself, you’re not quite sure where Danny is going, has he given up on magic, is he going back to his aunt, will he even be safe? What this film really needs is a Billy Elliot style ending. We need to see Danny twenty years later; has he made it as a magician? Has he given it all up and is happily living a family life somewhere else? This is a film that leaves too many questions and a lingering unhappiness about Danny’s fate, not unwatchable, but I’m not sure if it’s enjoyable.

Maliha Basak