Best approached with lowered expectations

Rating: 7/10 (17 September 2013)

I enjoyed the movie, but it seems a little odd that the real story of Tony Mendez's perfectly executed "exfiltration" scam had to be pruned back and simplified so much to make room for fictional scenes that would fit the pacing of a conventional action film. (See http://longform.org/stories/the-great-escape for some interesting details about the origins of the film-within-the-film and the houseguests' ordeal in Teheran that didn't make it into the shooting script.) All the name players (Affleck, Arkin, Goodman, Cranston) turn in fine performances; the escapees don't really emerge as distinct personalities, though Clea DuVall, as the most tightly wrapped of the group, is always good for a reaction shot at a tense moment. A few of the scenes leading up to the slambang finale at the airport seem a little implausible or contrived (the bumpy ride to the bazaar, e.g., which didn't actually happen), but as Donald Rumsfeld might have said, You go to see the movie that got made, not the one that should have gotten made and it's available on DVD from Netflix, btw. Recommended, but best approached with lowered expectations, despite all the critical raves and the Oscars.