Getaway (film)

Getaway
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Courtney Solomon
Produced by	Steve Richards Moshe Diamant Joel Silver Courtney Solomon
Screenplay by	Gregg Maxwell Parker Sean Finegan
Starring	Ethan Hawke Selena Gomez Jon Voight Rebecca Budig
Music by	Justin Burnett
Cinematography	Yaron Levy
Editing by	Ryan Dufrene
Studio	Dark Castle Entertainment Signature Entertainment After Dark Films Silver Reel
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	August 30, 2013 (2013-08-30)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Engilsh
Budget	$18 million[1]
Box office	$10,501,938[1]

Getaway is a 2013 American action thriller film starring Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon Voight. Directed by Courtney Solomon and written by Gregg Maxwell Parker and Sean Finegan, the film is distributed by Warner Bros., the last Dark Castle Entertainment film to be released by Warner Bros., as Universal Studios took Dark Castle over in 2013. Though originally reported to be a remake of the 1972 film The Getaway, the film is actually an original story.^[2]

Plot

Washed up former race driver Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) arrives home to find his house ransacked and his wife, Leanne, missing. Suddenly, his phone rings. On the other end is a mysterious man known only as The Voice (Jon Voight) who reveals himself as the kidnapper of Magna's wife. The man tells Magna that he must follow a set of instructions precisely in order to be reunited with his wife. The Voice orders Magna to steal a specially customised Shelby Mustang from a parking garage. The Voice warns Magna that if he does not follow the instructions or is caught, Leanne will die.

Magna sees two police officers chasing him and speeds off. Being a skilled driver, he is able to evade them with ease, eventually setting a trap to cause one to crash into the other. Despite more police cars joining the pursuit, Magna is able to out maneuver them. Some time later, Magna is again contacted by The Voice, who directs him towards his first task. He tells Magna to speed up and take some perilous turns, eventually being forced to crash through a park, ice rink, and shopping center, nearly killing numerous civilians in the process. The Voice calls to congratulate him and tells him to keep moving. Brent is ordered to crash into a water truck and run through a red lighted intersection, causing accidents in his wake. Brent is then ordered to park in a construction zone and await further instructions. While Magna is waiting, a young woman known only as The Kid (Selena Gomez) attempts to steal Magna's car. The Voice calls and orders Magna to kill The Kid. Magna refuses, and The Voice says that keeping her alive was the right choice, as he will need her help. As Magna and The Kid drive off, with more police in pursuit, she reveals that the Mustang is, in fact, her car, and that she was told it was stolen by a police officer. Magna realizes that their meeting was orchestrated by The Voice.Miss Dust, The Hitz, The Crew and Lucky Star to join the hot pursuit with Magna and The Voice at 2:30 am.

After being assigned another destructive task, The Kid reveals herself as a skilled computer hacker and the daughter of the C.E.O of a large bank. The Voice contacts Magna again and orders him to upload the contents of a flash drive into a computer before 11:30 pm. Upon reaching the designated area, a power plant, The Kid attempts to hack the computer in order to contact the police. She appears to have succeeded, only for The Voice to cut her off, revealing that he set up the computer as a trap for her. The plant suddenly overloads and explodes, destroying itself and blacking out a large portion of the city.

The Voice gives Magna his final task; to rob the bank owned by The Kid's father. The Kid points out that there is no actual money at her father's bank; it is an investment firm which holds all of its assets on computers. Gradually, the duo realize that they are not actually committing a heist, they are merely providing a distraction for the police while The Voice executes the real robbery and subsequently frames them for it.

As The Voice's men begin to commandeer an armoured car carrying sensitive hard drives, Magna surprises and overpowers them, succeeding in taking the drives. Now fleeing from the police and The Voice's men, Magna calls The Voice and offers to release the hard drives in exchange for his wife. The Voice accepts and directs him to an airplane hangar. While it appears that Leanne is about to be returned, Magna deduces that The Voice is planning to have them all killed once the deal is done. As Magna, Leanne, and The Kid attempt to escape, the police arrive, and in the ensuing chaos, a man Magna assumes to be The Voice grabs The Kid and drives off with her. Magna leaves Leanne with the police and pursues.

Following a high speed chase, both cars are destroyed, Magna rescues The Kid, and the police arrest the mysterious man. Leanne and Magna are reunited. However, Magna receives a phone call from The Voice, revealing that the man who was arrested was no more than a decoy. The Voice thanks Magna for his help and hangs up. It is revealed that The Voice was in fact controlling the entire operation from a bar in the United States. He checks his account balance and walks out of the bar.

Cast

• Ethan Hawke as Brent Magna
• Selena Gomez as The Kid
• Jon Voight as The Voice
• Rebecca Budig as Leanne Magna
• Paul Freeman as The Man
• Bruce Payne as Distinguished Man

Production

The film was shot in two production parts. The first part of filming occurred in May 2012 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Filming resumed in Atlanta, Georgia in September 2012.^[3]

Release

The film was released in the United States on August 30, 2013.^[1] The film was due for UK release on October 4, 2013 but was rescheduled to December 6, 2013.

Critical reception

Getaway was universally panned by film critics. It currently holds a 2% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 123 reviews, with the consensus: "Monotonously fast-paced to the point of exhaustion, Getaway offers a reminder of the dangers in attempting to speed past coherent editing, character development, sensible dialogue, and an interesting plot".^[4] The site also gave the film their Moldy Tomato award for the worst-reviewed film of 2013.^[5] It also has a score of 23 at Metacritic based on 34 reviews.^[6] IGN said "Not even the gruffly likable Ethan Hawke can make the murky, messy car chase movie Getaway worthwhile thanks to its inane script and poorly conceived action sequences" (Rating 3/10). John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "brainless chase flick that doesn't even offer guilty pleasures."^[7] Scott Foundas of Variety said in his review, "Solomon has made something like a 'Cannonball Run' for the YouTube Generation, with the largely incoherent action photographed (by cinematographer Yaron Levy) from dozens of small digital cameras mounted inside and outside the Shelby and cut in a Cuisinart".^[8]

Box office

Opening to a weekend gross of $4,503,892, the film has earned only $10,501,938 on a production budget of $18 million.^[1]

Awards

References

External links

• Official website
• Getaway at the Internet Movie Database
• Getaway at Box Office Mojo
• Getaway at Rotten Tomatoes
• Getaway at Metacritic
• Getaway on Facebook
• Getaway on Tumblr