Geordie-4 Review of Escape from Alcatraz

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Rather matter of fact, spare teling of Alcatraz escape story

[7/10 · 2 July 2002]

The story of the escape from Alcatraz is a unique one, in so far as there was only one escape in which the escapees were not recaptured. They were presumed dead in the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay, but no proof was ever obtained. The escape in itself is very interesting, although the escape doesn't really appear very interesting in this film. The film tells the story of Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood)'s escape from Alcatraz with a minimum of additional story-telling detail. It is an interesting film, but at times one wishes there were some more narrative details with which to complicate the story and provide some sort of interest beyond simply the teling of the story. There is very little evidence of life in jail unfortunately. Having said all this, one shouldn't really knock the film too much because it seems very accurate, and for refusing to buckle under pressure to make the film more interesting at the expense of accuracy, he should be credited. Like I said, at times, I wish there was more attention devoted to life in jail or to relationships among the prisoners or giving us some sense of the milieu there in order to give the movie some variety, but still, this is a clear and accurate telling of the Alcatraz escape story.