Synopsis
The young and self-confident Danny bluffs at the local police-station that he will escape from prison within an hour. What follows is a flashback showing his childhood with his uncle and aunt, who are 'vaudeville'-artists themselves.
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Cast
- Raúl JuliáStu Quiñones
- Griffin O'NealDanny Masters
- Desi ArnazMayor Leon Quiñones
- Teri GarrArlene
- Joan HackettAunt Sibyl
- Gabriel DellUncle Burke
- John P. RyanVernon
- Elizabeth DailySandra
- M. Emmet WalshFritz
- Jackie CooganMagic Shop Owner
Recommendations
- 80
Christian Science Monitor
It's an imperfect movie, but a tantalizing and rewarding one. - 80
CineVue
When Danny and Stu are on-screen together – The Escape Artist is immensely enjoyable. - 60
The New York Times
The Escape Artist represents a lot more talent than is ever demonstrated on the screen. - 60
The New Yorker
There are lapses in the continuity, and the picture is pushed toward a ready-made, theatre-of-the-absurd melodrama--the kind of instant fantasy that filled One From the Heart. - 50
Variety
Treatment frequently pushes past the careful to the precious, and the quiet, odd tale never becomes more than mildly intriguing. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The Escape Artist looks as if it may be intended for children, but it's so fuzzy in detail and character that it fails in its premise as either adventure or fantasy. [29 May 1982] - 50
Newsweek
The Escape Artist is chockablock with intriguing ingredients, none of which pays off. It's a true oddball, but as much as one would like to encourage iconoclasm in Hollywood, a movie this incoherent can only induce exasperation. [14 Jun 1982, p.88] - 50
TV Guide Magazine
A simple story is lost in the film's complex structure, and only when O'Neal and Julia are on screen together does this directorial debut of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel come to life.
