Breakout (2013 film) (2024)

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Breakout is a 2013 Canadian action thriller film written and directed by Damian Lee starring Dominic Purcell and Brendan Fraser. It was released to straight-to-DVD^[1] in the United States on September 17, 2013.

Plot[edit]

In the Ontario province of Canada, Jack Damson (Brendan Fraser) is an ecologically conscious father. During a protest in the woods by Jack and his group, Jack notices a logger viciously assaulting a woman from Jack's group. Jack tries to stop the logger, and when the logger tries to fight Jack, he ends up knocking the logger down. The logger accidentally hits his head on a rock, and sustains a fatal head injury. Jack is imprisoned for that. The logger who was killed worked for a powerful company called Conpine, which hates environmentalists.

Now, 8 years later, Jack's wife Maria (Amy Price-Francis), who is also his attorney, is living with their 17-year-old daughter Jenny (Holly Deveaux) and 13-year-old son Mikey (Christian Martyn). Jack's friend Chuck (Daniel Kash), a fellow environmentalist, invites Jenny and Mikey to go camping in the woods. Jenny has become bitter during the past 8 years. Jenny thinks that Jack loves his cause more than he loves her.

Maria visits Jack, and says that Conpine is offering him a deal—Jack will be freed in two weeks if he consults for Conpine, and no longer slams Conpine in the media. Maria says that she will give herself and Jack another chance together if he agrees to the deal, so Jack agrees, even though he is not a fan of the deal because he doesn't like Conpine.

A man named Tommy Baxter (Dominic Purcell) travels, in his pick-up truck, with his mentally handicapped younger brother Kenny (Ethan Suplee) from Georgia to a cabin that Tommy has rented for them in Ontario—in the same forest that Chuck, Jenny, and Mikey are camping in.

Tommy and Kenny had an abusive mother, who was a hooker. She regularly beat them with a fireplace poker, and turned tricks in the bed next to them. Now, Tommy's temper bubbles to the surface, and he kills a convenience store clerk named Mack (Adnan Pjevic), because Mack callously made fun of Kenny.

Later, the cabin's landlord, Harkin (Layton Morrison), shows up and tries to evict them from the cabin because he rented it to someone else after Tommy's check bounced, so Tommy kills Harkin too, but Tommy is spotted by Mikey. Tommy, who has a rifle, pursues Jenny and Mikey.

Jenny and Mikey find Chuck, and tell him what happened. Chuck knows he has to get Jenny and Mikey out of the woods. But Tommy takes Chuck hostage, ties him to the front of the pick-up truck, and orders him to tell Jenny and Mikey to come to him, or Tommy will kill Chuck. But Chuck tells them to run instead.

Jenny loses her cell phone, and a confused Kenny finds the phone and calls Maria, believing that she's his mother. After Kenny hangs up, Maria calls 911, and the cops coldly tell Maria that Jenny and Mikey can't be considered missing until they've been missing for 24 hours. A frantic Maria visits Jack, and tells him what's happening. With Maria's help, a desperate Jack escapes from prison to do what the cops won't do—try to rescue Jenny and Mikey. Kenny keeps calling Maria, who goes along with Kenny's conversations with her in order to get information, and Kenny promises to keep Jenny and Mikey safe.

A pair of cops show up at Maria's house, and one of them says "Mrs. Damson, any help you can provide locating your husband--" Maria cuts him off, angrily saying "What about my children?" The cop says "Mrs. Damson--" She cuts him off again, angrily saying "What about helping them? You weren't too quick on that, were you?" The cop says "Mrs. Damson, you can be charged as an accessory." Maria says "You go ahead. You charge me, and see where it gets you." Maria, angry that the cops care more about finding Jack instead of helping Jenny and Mikey, slams the door in their faces.

Jack finds Chuck, who tells him that Tommy and Kenny are looking for Jenny and Mikey, because Mikey saw Tommy kill someone. Jack frees Chuck. When Chuck finds Kenny and tries to take the phone away from him, Kenny kills Chuck, and Kenny immediately feels devastated about it, because he never actually wanted to kill anyone.

Jack, who has a shotgun, finds Jenny and Mikey, and they find Chuck dead. They try to get across a nearby river on a canoe, but Tommy shoots a hole in the canoe, and Jack, Jenny, and Mikey end up in the rapids. Tommy fires at them, but he misses, and Kenny doesn't want Tommy to kill anyone else. Jack and Jenny get out of the river, but they can't find Mikey. And then they see Tommy dragging Mikey out of the river, and Tommy revives Mikey. Tommy wants to use Mikey to draw Jack out. Tommy tells Mikey to call out for Jack, or Mikey will be killed. Jack, who has told Jenny to run, sneaks up on Tommy, and tries to stab him, but Tommy stops him. Jack manages to stab Tommy through his right hand, and Jack escapes with Mikey.

They search for Jenny, but Kenny gets to her first. Maria calls the phone, and Kenny lets her talk to Jenny. Maria tells Jenny how she has to talk to Kenny. Kenny promises to get Jenny out of there safely. But Jack jumps Kenny and starts beating him up, while Jenny tells Jack to stop, because he doesn't understand that Kenny is mentally handicapped. Jack, Jenny, and Mikey escape up a hill when Tommy fires at them.

Later, night is approaching. Jenny apologizes to Jack for not visiting him in prison. At the same time, Kenny prays for Jenny and Mikey to be safe. On the next morning, Tommy resumes his hunt, while Jack, Jenny, and Mikey keep running. They come upon a park ranger, but Tommy fires a shot that kills the ranger. Jack uses the ranger's gun to fire back at Tommy. As Jack turns to run, Tommy shoots him in the back. And Mikey's leg gets caught in a bear trap that was placed by poachers.

Tommy picks up the ranger's gun, and finds Jenny and Mikey. Tommy aims his rifle at them, and Kenny steps in the way to keep Tommy from shooting them. Jack comes up behind Tommy and stabs him, causing Tommy to accidentally shoot Kenny. Tommy collapses and dies. With his last bit of strength, Kenny helps Jack and Jenny free Mikey's leg from the bear trap. And then Kenny passes away. Jenny, shaken up by it, says "I'm sorry, Kenny. I'm sorry, Kenny. I'm sorry." Jack embraces Jenny and Mikey, and Jack is later pardoned for what he was accused of 8 years ago.

Cast[edit]

• Brendan Fraser as Jack Damson - Father
• Dominic Purcell as Tommy Baxter - Criminal brother
• Ethan Suplee as Kenny Baxter - Criminal brother
• Holly Deveaux as Jen Damson - Daughter - 17
• Daniel Kash as Chuck
• Christian Martyn as Mikey Damson - Brother
• Amy Price-Francis as Maria Damson - Mother attorney
• Anthony Ulc as Ryan Pain
• Zion Forest Lee as Clive
• Arcadia Kendal as Jenny (age 9)
• Andrew Jackson as Lapin
• Ryan Byrne as Cop #1
• Brendan Hennessey as Cop #2
• Meegwun Fairbrother as Ranger
• Caine Hussey-Derrer as Prison Guard
• Lara Daans as Zakia
• G. Scott Paterson as Lead Protester
• Naomi Andrews as Wendy
• Keith Bowser as Prison Picketor
• Mark Fisher as Executive
• Layton Morrison as Harkin
• Adnan Pjevic as Mack

Production and release[edit]

The film was produced under the working title Split Decision before the title was changed to Breakout. The film was released to straight-to-DVD^[2] in the United States on September 17, 2013. Brendan Fraser did not have another leading role in a film until the 2022 film The Whale.^[3][4][5]

Reception[edit]

In a positive review for movieweb.com, reviewer Evan Jacobs wrote that in the film "we see Fraser play his usual hero self. Unlike such dimwitted characters that he played in 'Monkey Bone' and 'Bedazzled,' Fraser is in full on 'Straw Dogs' mode here. Alright, maybe he isn't so frantic but as somebody who has seen a fair amount of Fraser's movies, I can only surmise that he could sleepwalk through a role like the one that he plays here. In fact, I couldn't help but wonder how much more interesting this movie might be if Fraser had been cast as one of the killers going after the kids. I know this goes against the family friendly/hero archetype he has labored so hard to present to the world, but it stands to reason that he could really do something if he channeled his inner Robert Mitchum and took on a role like Harry Powell in 'Night of the Hunter' or Max Cady in 'Cape Fear.'"^[6] He goes on to write, "it has its moments and it isn't afraid to put everything on screen in an attempt to make a bigger, richer movie. All in all, 'Split Decision' was a solid movie watching experience."^[7]

Reviewer David Savage of whatsgoodtodo.com gave the film a rating of 3/5, calling it "An OK thriller, but not one of the best."^[8]

In a negative review for manlymovie.net, reviwer The_Night_Rider gave the film a rating of 5/10, writing, "Breakout is another one of those DTV movies where you wonder why anyone at all even bothered, including yourself. [...] In a DTV movie you can forgive a lot, but at some point the weight of excessive plotholes and convoluted nonsense needs to be called out. [...] Lazy writing, there is no excuse for this."^[9]

Reviwer Malone of cinemajudgementday.com gave the film a rating of 1 out of 4 angels, writing, "Despite a trying-too-hard vibe and the tendency for the players to overact, it isn’t the worst straight to DVD movie I’ve seen. That said, it’s nothing you have to rush out and see, unless you really want to watch Ethan Suplee bumble around and stutter endlessly. That’s got to be worth something…"^[10]

In a review for mediamikes.com, reviewer Mike Gencarelli gave the film a rating of 1 out of 5, writing, "Poor Brendan Fraser. Man, I always give guy a chance but this film was really hard to finish. The plot starts off pretty interesting but really get quite repetitive and drawn out very quickly. Dominic Purcell is pretty bad ass, no question. Ethan Suplee does a good job as well playing a man with a mental handicap. Overall, the acting feels very stiff from everyone. I definitely understand now why this film got banished direct-to-video. I know Brendan Fraser might be a draw but I would breakout of that urge and avoid this."^[11]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Breakout on IMDb Search this movie on

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