Escape from Tomorrow: Movie Review
Starring: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Kaitlynn Rodriguez, with Annet Mahendru.
Written and directed by Randy Moore.
Current Rotten Tomatoes critics rating: 55%
Current Rotten Tomatoes audience rating: 48%
I guess the real appeal of ‘Escape from Tomorrow’ is that it was shot in Disneyland and Disneyworld. The appeal of Walt Disney and his lovable characters are so rooted deep within us that ‘Escape’ became something you had to see. Aside from it being Disney related, everyone who experienced being in one of their theme parks can associate to what the lead actor was going through. Long lines, hours of waiting, the heat, and the amount of people can all contribute to a wandering state of mind.
You see, the main character aka Jim (played by Roy Abramsohn) is like every other dad. He wears the same dad clothes; he has the same problems like boredom, sexual frustration, money, not being sure on how to act with kids, his actions that always irritate his wife, you know, normal dad stuff. To rebel in a way against his wife (played by Emily Schuber) and his kids, Sara (Kaitlyn Rodriguez) and Elliot (Jack Dalton) Jim purposely misplaces his kids and follows 2 French girls that lead him to a strange and horror like adventure. To be honest, there is not too much to see in this movie. The magic of curiosity fades out half way through the movie when you’re done ogling at the Disney rides. Annet Mahendru couldn’t save the movie but I do understand that they had to shoot under abnormal circumstances.
The thing that made this movie “supposedly” interesting is that it was shot “guerilla style” without Disney’s approval. When the movie was shown in Sundance, everybody was juts expecting an army of Disney lawyers to stop the movie, but it didn’t happen. Was the director expecting it to gain free publicity? I guess not, as Randy Moore made every action to keep his movie a secret to the powers that be. But surely, some resistance from the Mickey Mouse company could’ve spread the word but it has not been the case.
Is the movie worth watching? I can say yes. It will be a small part of movie history as few brave souls wanted to fight a big corporation through art and movie making. Although I can fairly say that there is a high chance that you wouldn’t like ‘Escape from Tomorrow’, their uniqueness and their courage can make up for it, but I don’t know to what extent.
