As far as I can tell, Breakout will be Tom Sizemore’s final role. It is fitting then that director Brandon Slagle’s follow-up to his recent action hit Battle for Saipan has him front row and center as a rogue hostage negotiator finds himself in the middle of a conflict against a criminal mastermind and former LAPD explosives expert and a former Black Ops operator.
Unfortunately, Sizemore’s mohawked performance is all too brief as that retired Black Ops agent jumps into action, attempting to bottle up the takeover and cutting off the need for negotiations. The bait and switch is on because, in all honesty, this is a film for Louis Mandylor to shine and shine he does in his performance of Alex, Vincent’s estranged father who finds himself coming back for one more mission and, honestly, his most important: fighting for the soul of his son.
Opening with a hyperkinetic car chase and an explosive shootout which lands Vincent Baros (Kristos Andrews) in jail, Breakout wastes little time putting its dominos in place. Sure, it gets a bit too talky at times, but that’s to be expected when the guns go quiet and we have need for a bit more exposition and Brian Krause as the main baddie is having so much fun with his role, inviting all the prisoners to his party.
Even Alex (Louis Mandylor), Vincent’s estranged father arrives at the prison, but, as I suggested, their father and son reunion is cut short when the maximum-security prison is commandeered by a terrorist mastermind, Max Chandler (Krause), who quickly enlists the other prisoners in his complete takeover, and all Hell is unleashed upon the guards, visitors, and everyone else unfortunate enough to be in the way of Max's bloody intentions.
And Vincent is completely spellbound by Max’s plan. You see, Max holds himself with high regard and, as no one else is worthy enough to stand next to him, he manipulates all those beneath him and gets them to bend to his will. All of this leaves Vincent totally enraptured by Max. Leave it to Alex to come to his son’s rescue.
While I wasn’t expecting the competing father angle, Breakout isn’t completely original, borrowing a lot of its Die-Hard-by-way-of-a-prison-takeover atmosphere from John McTiernan’s classic auctioneer which starred Bruce Willis. But Breakout isn’t the surprise smash that Die Hard was and it shows when the set-up begins to limp a little on its way to its rooftop finale which posits a violent (and all too brief) showdown between Vincent’s two mentors.
In addition to Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan), My Big Fat Greek Wedding’s Louis Mandylor, Kristos Andrews ("The Bay"), Brian Krause (Stephen King's Sleepwalkers), Noel Guglielmi (Training Day), Victor DiMatta (The Sandlot), and Jose Guapo also star in the Robert Thompson, Brandon Slagle, and Devanny Pinn written actioner. James Cullen Bressack (Hot Seat) is a producer on the pic.
Uncork’d Entertainment will release Brandon Slagle’s follow-up to recent action hit Battle for Saipan this Spring. High tensity prison break feature Breakout, featuring the late Tom Sizemore in one his final roles, will release April 11 on DVD and Digital.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 86 mins
Director: Brandon Slagle
Writer: Robert Thompson; Brandon Slagle; Devanny Pinn
Cast: Louis Mandylor; Kristos Andrews; Brian Krause
Genre: Action | Crime
Tagline: Breaking Out is an Inside Job.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Uncork'd Entertainment
Official Site:
Release Date: April 11, 2023 (Digital Platforms and DVD)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: Having taken control of a maximum-security prison and recruited the other prisoners as his army, a criminal mastermind and former LAPD explosives expert faces off against a rogue hostage negotiator and a retired Black Ops agent who had been visiting his incarcerated son.
