Inescapable (2012)

Adib's (Alexander Siddig) daughter goes missing in Damascus, Syria and he must go and find her; but Adib has a secret that has kept him from Syria for 20-years. Actually, 2-secrets. This whole movie hinges on the reason his daughter went to Damascus in the first place when she was supposed to be on her way home to Toronto, Canada. This is very slow going, but consider that if Adib goes back to a country that he escaped from and if caught now he would be arrested. He knows the customs of the country and still knows some people who are in high places, sort of. Language is no problem as he knows Arabic. Ah, but he does go back and knows he must approach everything slowly as there are many secret police units all over the place in this police state. Adib needs help from someone who can do the things he needs done to find his daughter. The help comes from Fatima (Marisa Tomei) who Adib was supposed to marry back in the day, but he escaped and never made contact with her again. And, to be sure, Fatima tells him all about it in a rough and tumble way; and she is still in love with him. Okay, so now you know one secret. So he goes to the Canadian Embassy (Adib is a Canadian citizen) for any help they can provide. He goes to see his old friend in Syrian Military Intelligence, and tries to run down a old Russian spy he knew back in the day to get his help. Adib knows he is being watched by factions of the Secret Police and is acutely aware that he could be arrested at any moment as now people are beginning to see him and do some research about him. But, no tension is felt. This is sometimes suspenseful, but the tension is not there. The acting is fine all around, but also halting as one would expect in a place like this where one must choose one's words carefully. But, still no tension. One thing that bothered me was that he wanders all over Damascus in a new Western suit, which stuck out like a sore thumb; and later he walks around openly in a newly pressed ultra white dress shirt. He should have worn things to blend in more, but the director didn't see it that way. She was never a spy. HA !You will enjoy this if you take Adib's character to be your own. Sometimes you may ask yourself if you would have done anything different aside from the suit and the white shirt, of course. He knows people and needs to ask favors and he has to be careful about it. And, yes, he does get beaten up at times, but still no tension. If there was a way to get tension in here this would be a very good movie. It needed tension. (5/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes, not much.

I'm 100 % Syrian ... I will only focus about the things which should people consider before making a movie about a country they do not know !I would like to send a message to the guys who produced this film telling them to learn more about the country before making a movie about it . The only true thing is that taxis are yellow ... yes that is true while everything else is not ! extras ( combers ) are totally foreigners !!! all police ,army and ppl in the street lake the Syrian face !! no one of them even has it !! the Canadian guy who works in the embassy has a face which is more Syrian than 90% of people appeared in the movie the language used by the " native speaker " has nothing to do with any of the Syrian accents !!! to me it was like an Indian accent guy representing King Richard in a movie ! the way people dress is totally not Syrian ... it is more like north Africa ( Egypt , lybia , Morocco , etc ) the way the secret police acts is totally lame , they can get anything they want much easier than appears in the movie !the way the police and the army dress is 100% wrong there are many other details which are totally making this movie week , like the Idea of he is standing in front of the ministry of defense waiting for something ( no one is allowed to sit there ) .. and a colonel has a different rank shape on his shoulder ! plants species in the streets are not the ones u see there !!the atmosphere of the hotel he is in is typical Egyptian ( except one chair )there are many points to be mentioned ... I think if they asked one only one Syrian about such things they would have improved their work much more !!

Though this film has been negatively received as being a take-off on the TAKEN films (father looking for daughter under dire circumstances) it is a different kind of film and one written and directed by Ruba Nadda who manages to gives us a story that in many ways explains why the Syrian situation (terrifying chaos) is as it is. If for no other reason than to gain insight on what life in a country infested with many 'secret police' organizations whose drive seems to be shoot now investigate later.Years after he left Damascus under suspicious circumstances (he was a accused of being an Israeli spy), Adib Abdel Kareem (udanese born British character actor Alexander Siddig) is comfortably at work in Toronto when he is confronted with devastating news: his eldest daughter, Muna (Jay Anstey), has gone missing in Damascus. Now Adib, who has not been back in over 30 years, must return to Syria and deal with his secret past in order to find her. Getting a Visa is the first near impossible step, but once in Jordan he calls upon his ex- fiancée Fatima (Marisa Tomei) whom Adib deserted when he escaped to Canada years ago to assist him in ploughing through the red tape and dangers to find his daughter. The Canadian ambassador Paul (Joshua Jackson) is inextricably involved as is Adib's old comrade Sayid (Oded Fehr) and the man with answers Halim (Saad Siddiqui). Inescapable is a thriller about a father's desperate search for his daughter and the chaos of the Middle East he left behind.The film is tense and disheveled at times but that reflects the worrisome chaos of too many factions trying to assist a country who seems unable to find its core values. This is not a great film but it does offer a taste of what life must be like in war torn Syria. And for that it is worth watching. Grady Harp

What can I say..... Taken 2 was a weak follow on from the original which was quite a fresh approach to a mild action movie, this is neither. This makes Taken 2 seem fast paced and full of kick ass. If you enjoy slow moving stories with the actors seemingly pausing to buy time (or remember their lines) this is for you. I should have turned off after the titles. I did eventually switch off after an hour. The characters are boring, slow paced, uninterested in their role and I can only imagine the director saw what a train crash this was going to be and left halfway through filming! The main actor excelled in Deep space 9 and was even watchable in Primeval but in this movie he just seems bored and certainly not overly concerned about his missing daughters welfare. Snore,,, watch at your peril! Sci fi channel movies seem glossy and well written/acted compared to this mess. 1/10 cos it's the lowest I can give. You may see higher ratings from Canadians who have watched this film, they're being patriotic, trust me.