“Breakout” kicks things off on a messy note and continues on its wayward path for the duration of its runtime. The film opens on a man being gunned down in the middle of the street. Turns out, mobster Harris Wagner arranged the murder so he could pin it on his grandson Jay Wagner (Robert Duvall). Cut to the cops showing up to Jay and his wife Ann’s (Jill Ireland) farm to haul him away. Jay is charged with the murder and thrown in a Mexican prison.
If you have a lot of questions…you’re not alone. Why would Harris want to pin a murder on his grandson? Why was that particular victim selected? How was Jay framed without any planted evidence? WAS there planted evidence that director Tom Gries failed to share with the audience?
Your guesses are as good as mine.
After Jay is officially incarcerated, he realizes he will never legally get out of prison. So, Ann gets to work. She searches high and low for someone willing to spring her husband out of jail for a handsome price. Her search brings her to bush pilot Nick Colton (Charles Bronson).
This film is completely designed to be a Bronson vehicle. From his first scene, the man is all swagger — bragging he could fix a small plane in 30 minutes and flirting with a married woman. It’s like Bronson pre-approved the script to ensure his character came off as suave as possible. This movie was released in 1975, so this was the Hollywood standard for cool. But in 2019, it’s exhausting. The knight in shining armor shtick is fine, but give us a flawed character with a little more depth.
Bronson’s co-star and real life wife Ireland doesn’t have much to work with in her role. Her character shows fleeting moments of cunning wit. But more often than not, she is reduced to tears and turning to men for help. At one point, Bronson consoles her breakdown by complimenting her haircut. And in a turn completely out of character, Jay attempts to rape his wife during a conjugal visit. It’s truly sad that these used to be the only kinds of roles available to actresses.
The majority of the film is a number of failed rescue attempts, including a visit from the mobsters that were barely relevant to the story to begin with. “Breakout” was likely the type of action film the resonated well with audiences in the 70s. But in 2019, it simply has not aged well.
-by Brynne Ramella
