‘No Escape’ Trailer: Owen Wilson Flees a Revolution

The No Escape trailer shows us a side of Owen Wilson we haven’t seen in a long time. In 2001, before he was officially typecast as an offbeat goofball, he tried to prove himself as an action hero in Behind Enemy Lines. He did not succeed, to put it mildly. So when we see an older, wiser Wilson attempt to rescue his family in the midst of a violent rebel uprising, we almost have flashbacks to that film (almost because that would require remembering that movie at all).

We say all of this because No Escape has Wilson playing his first purely dramatic role in quite some time. Even in slightly more dramatic films like The Darjeeling Limited and Inherent Vice, Wilson exudes a genial, slacker vibe. He’s a man built for comedy. So seeing him scowl and yell and dodge gunfire and save his family from death at the hands of armed rebels in an unnamed southeast Asian country is just plain weird.

Not as weird: seeing a gruff, grey-bearded Pierce Brosnan playing the British ex-pat who gives him handy survival advice. If nothing else, this film does appear to know how to use modern Brosnan effectively.

But let’s get negative for a moment. This is an effectively cut trailer, but there’s definitely something icky about this movie at first glance. In an age where xenophobia seems to be at an all-time high, a film about an American (and oh-so-very-white) family running for their lives from vicious rebels while living in Asia just seems a little irresponsible. We’re talking about an area of the world that is seeing actual revolution and turmoil. To boil all of that down to an action movie where the American characters have to run for their lives from the Evil Asian Revolutionaries is, well, uncomfortable. We’ll cross our fingers and hope there’s some substance to those action beats.

Here’s the official synopsis:

An intense international thriller, No Escape centers on an American businessman as he and his family settle into their new home in Southeast Asia. Suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a violent political uprising, they must frantically look for a safe escape as rebels mercilessly attack the city.

No Escape is directed by John Erick Dowdle and will open on September 2.