Ticket Out

I have seen SO many thousands of 'B' movies it would make your head swim. This a fine little gem with a minimum of nonsense and although not perfect, it never, ever makes you wish you didn't watch it. It's a B+ with heart and some soul that many of us wish more movies had. I have seen 'A' list movies far worse than this. Many in fact! Ray is great. The tension is workable. Maybe needs to be 15-20 minutes longer to work out some emotional questions and produce proper 'closure'. I give it 5.5 for execution with a 6.7 for overall intent and budget. I would watch it again for the 'Feel-Good' aspect and good acting alone. And, as much I am not a fan of 'Feel-Good' movies, this is worth a watch above most other crap of its ilk. Truly!~

(2012) Ticket Out THRILLER

Co-associate producer, co-written and directed by Doug Lodato that has single mother Jocelyn (Alexandra Breckenridge) of two children, DJ (Colin Ford) and Mary Sue (Ciara Bond) go on the run from their physical abusive father Dennis (Billy Burke) as the law is on his side regarding sharing custody. With young Jocelyn's son DJ often needing insulin, and in hiding with the help of an underground movement led by Jim (Ray Liotta), with Jocelyn waiting for her ticket out- hence the title. I thought the ending of this movie really sucked, for which the idea was taken from an actual incident, but is fabricated for this feature.

I was hoping I would get some drama, anxiety...I thought I would be mesmerized by the script, which sounded nice to me, while reading the back of the DVD. Well, I didn't get any of this. The movie is OK, I didn't waste my time watching it, but definitely it could have been better. It lacks some resolution, you end up wishing it was 10-15 longer. Some of the facts exposed are not quite clear (though you can get some ideas) by the horrible script. They tried to make a thriller, they tried to make our heart jump at some scenes. Well, they almost succeed. I have to say that I like the idea, it was just not well executed. Some of the viewers might watch the movie and get angry just because they wish to see more, to understand the situation better, and truly happened with the characters.

This starts of feeling like a Lifetime type abused wife fleeing husband movie but it turns out better than expected and is quite exciting.

The cast is above average too. The very pretty Alexandra Breckenridge (the young girl in the French Maid costume from American Horror Story Season 1) plays the abused wife. She acts well. Billy Burke (Charlie Swan from Twilight) plays the abusive husband well. Ray Liotta plays someone helping the wife and kids flee through the underground network.

There is an interesting twist and it is watchable from beginning to end. It's not an Enough type thing. More realistic actually. Worth a watch.

An American mother (Alexandra Breckenridge) takes her young son & daughter and flees her abusive ex, who has visitation rights (Billy Burke). As she travels from east to west in January, she is helped by a mysterious man involved in some kind of escape network (Liotta).

"Ticket Out" (2012) is an entertaining inter-state chase flick with top-of-the-line locations and quality winter ambiance, not to mention a couple of unexpected (but welcome) shoot-outs. Alexandra is a winsome protagonist and Burke makes for a quality villain while Ray's character is charismatic, but enigmatic.

The flick explores the complexities of parental rights and what's good for the children, as well as the moral conflict between doing what your profession or the legal system demands and what you know is right in your heart.

Despite its release date, the film was shot from December 14, 2008, to March 14, 2009.

It runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Iowa (Des Moines, Newton, Indianola, Prairie City and Adel); Badlands, South Dakota; Caribou-Targhee National Forest and Grand Tetons, Wyoming.

GRADE: B.