Escape from Alcatraz: low-key and efficient, this film contains all the usual elements of a story of this genre, as well as some of its problems. The gallery of characters contains the usual suspects; however, there is little if any development of them. Familiarity is not a major problem, but the inability to connect to any of the characters is (they are unpleasant and uninteresting). The images are a bit too dark sometimes and, while that makes sense in the context of the action, it’s still hard to follow.