Review of Getaway (2013) by Michael S — 22 Sep 2014

Getaway is one of those movies where a good guy must follow a bad guy's instructions in order to save his captured wife. This one pretty much takes place entirely in a car. Ethan Hawke stars as the husband, and the movie starts off right away with him being told to break into a car where he will receive further orders.

Of course, there's a reason for why the villain is doing this. And we only see glimpses of him throughout the movie. There are close-ups of his mouth as he speaks in addition to various camera angles from behind, kind of like the bad guy from the Inspector Gadget cartoons. He's even got a foreign accent just to add more menace to the character. Ethan Hawke's character, Brent, is a former racecar driver. This is why he's chosen to complete the tasks that the villain needs to be done. But really that's also just another ploy so that the movie can be filled with slick car chases and a fast-paced feel.

Not far into the movie, an additional character is thrown in to the mix. She's a "kid" who jumps into the car sticking a gun in Brent's face, and is played by Selena Gomez. The villain demands that she stays in the car as well since she discovers what's going on. This obviously leads the two characters to team up and kind of join forces in preventing the villain from killing the abducted wife. And as the movie goes on, it just becomes more and more far-fetched and ridiculous. The kid winds up being extremely tech-savvy and at some points even seems smarter than Ethan Hawke's character. The casting of Selena Gomez in this role is easily the worst casting I can think of in a while. Having a 20 year-old girl who still looks 12 play this role makes it impossible to believe her as this witty and tough individual who doesn't seem afraid of anything.

The movie could have been a fun ride otherwise, and the speeding car scenes are actually shot very well. But it just veers a little too far into implausible territory. It certainly feels like Ethan Hawke was slumming it in this flick; he probably just needed a decent payday. But the movie hasn't fared well so far so I'm sure he's regretting it now.