Escape at Dannemora delves deep and unflinchingly into the underbelly of the United States. The US has a prison population larger than the rest of the world's combined prison population, a statistic which suggests that an authoritarianism infects its society. This 7 part series is an examination as to how two inmates escaped one such prison. But the series never really examines why these prisoners wished were so driven to escape in the first place.
Most notable about the series is the cruelty of the US police, who apparently resemble an Army themselves, and shoot people in the back.
Overall, this series failed to touch a nerve, but invariably and disparately Benicio Del Toro gives a masterful, quietly intimidating performance, together with the cute and comedically pathetic Patricia Arquette, both of whom are the soaring highlights.
Another actor who shines is Eric Langue who plays Arquette's meek, gullible, and cuckolded husband.
I felt the series was undercooked, and wasted the fantastic talents at its disposal. It should have been a 10 part-series. A real shame, this could have really been an all-time great, to rival The Sopranos or Twin Peaks. For example the penultimate episode operates as a flashback, revealing to us who the characters were before they reached the present timeline, but the story leading up to the prison could have been expanded by 3 episodes or more. The result is a half-formed epic, with the actors not fully exploited for their immense talents.
I am being somewhat harsh, but only because the writers or the producers let the series down, not fully appreciating who or what talent they had at their disposal. Sometimes you gotta dream.
Most notable about the series is the cruelty of the US police, who apparently resemble an Army themselves, and shoot people in the back.
Overall, this series failed to touch a nerve, but invariably and disparately Benicio Del Toro gives a masterful, quietly intimidating performance, together with the cute and comedically pathetic Patricia Arquette, both of whom are the soaring highlights.
Another actor who shines is Eric Langue who plays Arquette's meek, gullible, and cuckolded husband.
I felt the series was undercooked, and wasted the fantastic talents at its disposal. It should have been a 10 part-series. A real shame, this could have really been an all-time great, to rival The Sopranos or Twin Peaks. For example the penultimate episode operates as a flashback, revealing to us who the characters were before they reached the present timeline, but the story leading up to the prison could have been expanded by 3 episodes or more. The result is a half-formed epic, with the actors not fully exploited for their immense talents.
I am being somewhat harsh, but only because the writers or the producers let the series down, not fully appreciating who or what talent they had at their disposal. Sometimes you gotta dream.