Inescapable

Adib Abdel Kareem (Alexander Siddig) lives a comfortable life in Toronto under an alternate identity. He has two daughters but has told them nothing about his past in Syria. He was a military intelligence officer but left under mysterious circumstances 20 years ago. His oldest daughter Muna has disappeared after going to Damascus behind his back. He sneaks back into the country with the help of ex-fiancée Fatima (Marisa Tomei). He talks to Canadian Embassy officer Paul Ridge (Joshua Jackson) and former fellow workmate Sayid (Oded Fehr) as he navigates the dangerous police state.

This movie seems to be caught between a realistic movie and a Bourne-like thriller. It fails as either and it struggles to be better. It's great to have Siddig as the lead. The problem is that I can't believe his character wouldn't be snatched up by any one of the random secret police agents. His supposed crime is too big to ignore. The daughter is too naive. It would have been more logical if she's researching in Turkey and gets kidnapped into Syria. Also having Tomei as an Arab does raise an eyebrow. A lot of little things limit the believability. It doesn't work as an action thriller either. It is terribly flat and has low intensity despite the exotic setting. The few action sequences seem weak and out of place. I would like a realistic take on the 2012 police-state Syria. I can't buy it here.

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

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.

You get to glimpse another country and see its dysfunction as well as its lifestyles and you cannot be but thankful that you live in the good ole USA. A father learns that his daughter is doing a little soul-searching about his past and gets more than she would have ever knew possible. The stakes quickly become life-threatening for all involved and we get to see what good friends and family as well as enemies can or wont do and why. Its one thing to get in trouble and try to get out of it and it is another to do this on foreign soil. Exciting at times and moves quick enough so you care what's happening. Interesting to note that during the movie a statement is made by a man who shares the reason why he has never had kids and the movie causes you to examine both sides of this with passion. Have a snack ready or nail-biting may visit with you at some points

After reading some other reviews of this film online, I was expecting to be slightly disappointed...but was pleasantly surprised by it. Having been a fan of Ruba Nadda's other films, (and a general groupie of anything involving Alexander Siddig), I was eager to see her newest film as part of the CIFF.

The movie starts rather abruptly, and just dives in to the plot - A man, Adib (who is originally from Syria but has lived in Toronto for the past 25 years) goes to Damascus to search for his adult daughter who has gone missing while traveling there. This sudden, rather stark beginning is very different from Nadda's last major film, (the subtle and slow paced "Cairo Time") but, it works: The story develops naturally in a somewhat frantic way (in keeping with the protagonists understandable anxiety) from this stark beginning, and we learn more and more about Adib's past and just why his daughter is in such danger. Marisa Tomei is also particularly convincing as the lover that Adib left behind suddenly some 2 decades ago, and Siddig is of course, flawless as always.

Without revealing too much of the plot, I will say (having traveled through Syria), that director Nadda has done a brilliant job of capturing the somewhat concerning climate of a police state, while also illuminating the rather conflicting general atmosphere of Damascus- haunting, beautiful, blue- tinted layers of history, coupled with this very brutal military presence.

This is a real departure for Nadda, shooting a political thriller as opposed to a romantic drama, but I think she succeeds simply for the fact that watching it, I felt like I WAS in Damascus...and she was able to convey this in a film she shot in only 29 days, in South Africa (the Syrian government obviously not having let her film there).

While there could have been slightly more character development in some cases, I found the film to be beautifully shot, and it kept its pace suitable to the subject matter.