Here, he attempts to find scares in something resembling the real world, presumably to give this genre piece a more disturbing, plausible kick. The director John Erick Dowdle specializes in horror, and he’s even made a couple of decent ones (including the solid remake Quarantine and the not-entirely-awful supernatural elevator thriller Devil). Okay, yes, fine, No Escape isn’t trying to be a political thriller. Their survival instinct keeps them from throwing themselves off a building - but somehow, they have to override it. It’s totally unnatural for the girl to do so - just as it’s totally unnatural for Jack and Annie to toss their kids off rooftops, or to bash people in the head. At one point, one of the girls whispers that she has to go potty, as they’re hiding from the rebels Annie quietly, painfully encourages her daughter to go in her pants. There’s one good idea in No Escape, which is the notion of instinct overcoming instinct. That’s because every local in this place is either a deranged lunatic or helpless cannon fodder. (My colleagues Kyle Buchanan and Jennifer Vineyard wrote about the scene here.) Not only do the physics of the scene look thoroughly unconvincing, there’s also this nameless local right behind the Dwyers, hanging out on the edge of the frame, who helps them and is then summarily blown away. There’s a nutty scene where Jack has to literally toss his daughters off a rooftop and have Annie catch them on another rooftop. After this point, the film becomes essentially one long chase, as our helpless family tries to survive a rooftop helicopter slaughter, an office massacre, a tank attack, and much, much more - including an attempted rape. On their plane, they meet Hammond (Pierce Brosnan), a British expatriate with a hand injury (“Got in a fight with a tiger”) and a head injury (“Fell down a flight of stairs in Hong Kong”) and who has bits of wisdom to dispense about the local cabbies (“Bunch of con artists!”) and the local women (“So eager to please!”).Īnyway, the cabs are the least of the Dwyer family’s problems, because a sudden coup in the country means that they are soon being attacked by red-bandanna-wearing guerrillas who shoot, machete, and run over everybody in sight. It’s a big change for mom Annie (Lake Bell) and their two daughters Jack doesn’t appear to have consulted with them before accepting the new position. to Southeast Asia so dad Jack (Owen Wilson) can work for a big, Western water concern that has bought his own smaller company. Set in an unnamed, mostly nondescript country that mixes elements of Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, No Escape follows the Dwyer family as they relocate from the U.S. And the ride isn’t that great to begin with. No Escape takes the casual xenophobia of something like Taken, crossbreeds it with something altogether more noxious, then asks us to kick back and enjoy the ride.

But no, it’s just plain offensive - and not all that well made, either. There’s a danger to playing up the cruddy No Escape’s exploitative qualities it might inspire people to actually see it, merely to bask in the provocation.

Photo: Roland Neveu/The Weinstein Company Lake Bell, Owen Wilson, and family, during one of many escapes.

Owen wilson movie no escape