Rent The Great Escaper (2023)

Jackson's swansong performance is perfect in a powerful & redemptive, unsentimental & gentle story - The Great Escaper review by TB

After decades as actors, with many stunning & iconic performances between them, Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson both end in a beautifully realised & quietly powerful film based on the true story of Bernard Jordan. Jordan, a Royal Navy veteran of WWII, "escaped" from his care home to attend the Commemorations in France, after the special organised trips of veterans he wanted to go on had been fully booked. The film looks at not only his trip, but also the support & love of his wife Rene, as well as the PTSD he continued to suffer, haunting him.

As a gentle & extremely sensitively made film, this is easy watching, whilst dealing with profoundly distressing & deeply scarring trauma, a real achievement in storytelling. None of the different scenes felt "set up," and a few times, the outcomes genuinely surprised me. For many people, the scene which will stay with them is the encounter that Jordan has with some German veterans, including one who will have been shooting at him on the D-Day landings. The way this scene is handled & written is absolutely flawless, in no way becoming the "Let's all hug each other & sing Kumbaya" scenario which in the wrong or disingenuous hands it could so, so easily have become.

However for me the most powerful scene, which really impacted me, was one which was (combined,) only a few minutes of screen time: a young soldier who had been severely injured & lost a leg in a present day conflict. When we first meet him he is enthusiastic & happy, then later on he is intoxicated & almost violent, then finally he goes to say goodbye to Jordan & is contrite, as well as saying how much he admires him. Halfway through saying this, Jordan forcefully stops him & then says "Get some help, because you're a mess." Something so simple, but handled so well. Huge credit & praise must go to Victor Oshin for creating so strong a character in the space of a couple of minutes.

Whilst Michael Caine will have been the main draw for many, this is empathically Glenda Jackson's film. Passing away 9 months after filming wrapped, you feel in some small way that she knew that this was going to be her last performance. And she puts everything into this role. Rene is a strong, vulnerable & emotional person, dedicated to her husband whilst also being the driving force behind him having the courage to go & fulfill the thing he has wanted to do for decades. Their love for each other shone out through the screen, especially in the final lovely moments.

And the best thing about this film is that, especially in the world we have today, it's message is one of forgiveness & reconciliation. Every single person, irrelevant of which "side" they were on, is a human. And the overwhelming number of these people sent to fight in WWII were practically kids. The damage & trauma is incalculable, made worse by the fact that the war to end all wars didn't in any way achieve that.

The Great Escaper is a plea to stop the conflict & horrific slaughter, anchored by 2 performances from two of our greatest actors in their final curtain calls. Magnificent drama.

Not great, but see it for Caine and Jackson's performances - The Great Escaper review by JR

There isn't a strong enough narrative to last the course of the film. It would have been much better if it had been a one hour teleplay. The flashback scenes to Bernie's youth are either over sentimental, or rather unconvincing recreations of battle scenes and amount to unnecessary padding. It is rather depressing, and rams home how unpleasant and difficult old age is. Michael Caine is excellent, and gives nuance and complexity to the mainly unsympathetic character of Bernie, and Glenda Jackson, in her final role is mesmerising as his unconventional and strong-willed wife.

Heartwarming True Story - The Great Escaper review by GI

There's a significant poignancy to this film in not only the story but also in seeing two giants of cinema, Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson, together in their final film performances. Both bring gravitas and utter delight to this true story of D-Day veteran Bernie Jordan who, unable to get onto an official trip to France for the 70 year anniversary of the battle, snuck out of his care home early one morning and made his own way there. Jackson as his wife, Irene, covers for him to make sure he makes it ok. When the staff guess he's missing a media furore begins, unknown to Bernie, where he is dubbed The Great Escaper. Of course he hadn't 'escaped' at all and the film maturely tells the truth that the media embellished the affair for a good story. But the film does give us a heartwarming story of Bernie's trip where he finds the grave of a lost friend and there's a backstory that comes with flashbacks to the war, and these are the weak part of the film and in some ways detract from this story of nostalgia, regret and the pain of memories. Of course there's some comedy in the aged characters coming up against the young but it's Jackson and Caine who exude the charisma and spark for the story of this elderly couple who still love one another deeply and respect each others feelings. They give the film, which some may think a bit overly sentimental, a real sense of true life.

very moving - The Great Escaper review by Ernie

A story about an old soldier who wants closure after 70 years, well written and the cast are good, well worth your time