While he’s best known for his comedy roles,Ben Stillerhas shown more versatility and ambition than anyone would have expected from theNight at the Museumstar at the beginning of his career. Stiller has always earned respect from his peers within the industry, but he was generally considered to be simply a comedy star, who only occasionally tried something more emotional withBrad’s StatusorThe Royal Tenenbaums. In actuality, Stiller had been proving himself as a director, and created some truly uproarious comedies withZoolander, Tropic Thunder, The Cable Guy, andThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Although he had shown signs of brilliance, Stiller established himself as a dramatic filmmaker with his 2018 Showtime miniseriesEscape at Dannemora.
Escape at Dannemorais based on an incredible true story from 2015, in which two convicted murderers escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York amidst highly unusual circumstances. The seven-episode series focused on Richard Matt (Benicio del Toro) and David Sweat (Paul Dano), who had both been in an intimate relationship with the prison worker Tilly Mitchell (played by Patricia Arquette). Matt and Sweats’ escape inspired a massive manhunt and concluded in dramatic fashion. With its propulsive thrills and visceral resonance,Escape at Dannemoraproved Stiller hadimproved significantly as a filmmaker.
Doing Something Different
The sign ofany great filmmakeris someone who can work within multiple genres and find an equal amount of success, and that’s certainly something Stiller is capable of. Stiller had been directing sinceThe Cable Guy, and his early comedies may have prepared him for the accomplishment thatEscape at Dannemoraended up being.ZoolanderandTropic Thunderwere both highly exaggerated depictions of the fashion industry and Hollywood, respectively, but they were both satirizing real institutional failures in a clever way. This allowed Stiller to add more subtle political commentary withinEscape at Dannemora; by the end of the series, the viewers are left with a powerful indictment of the American prison system.The Sopranosstar Michael Imperioli even has a brief appearance as New York governor Anthony Cuomo.
Tropic Thunderalso had a tactility to it that prepared Stiller to undertake some of the more elaborate action set pieces inEscape at Dannemora; the series is packed with intense moments where Matt and Sweat nearly perish during their escape. While most prison break movies are centered almost exclusively around the actual heist itself,Escape at Dannemoradedicates an equal amount of time to showing their life in prison beforehand. Matt enlists Sweat’s help for an ambitious goal of seducing Tilly and making her sympathetic to their cause; it’s only after spending an extensive amount of time with the two that Tilly begins to note the flaws in her own life, and particularly her marriage with her husband Lyle (Eric Lange). Stiller may have done some nuanced character work inThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but the freedom to build out compelling character arcs over seven episodes allowedEscape at Dannemorato be much more insightful.
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The Gritty Tone and Tension
Prison movies have been a popular subgenre of thrillers for generations; classics likePapillion, Cool Hand Luke, Escape From Alcatraz, The Defiant Ones,andThe Great Escapeall left an impact on their respective audiences. However, most prison films lacked the attention-to-detail that Stiller found withEscape at Dannemora. It’s thoroughly explained how Matt and Sweat slowly develop their plan over time and adopt subtle behavioral changes in order to mask their approach. The planning and research they do into escape methods is just as exciting as the prison break itself, as any indication that they’re changing their behavior could suggest to their captors what their goals really are.
However, the gritty tone is most evident thanks to the absolutely unrecognizable performance from Arquette; while she’s always had a down-to-Earth quality that has made her relatable, Arquette fearlessly showcases a middle-aged, frustrated woman who is taken advantage of in an unusual situation. The intimate moments between Tilly and the two inmates aren’t sensationalized, and Stiller deserves credit for not exaggerating them for shock value.The real story itselfis so strange that it didn’t require the sort of exaggeration that is generally found in Hollywood adaptations.
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The Ambiguous Morality
Escape at Dannemoraearned praise from critics who took note of its interesting depiction of real events.New Yorkernoted that “Patricia Arquette’s excellence as Tilly is the strongest selling point of a show where the points of an unsurprising plotline are subordinate to a memorable intensity of performances,” andThe AV Clubpraised the series as “a stylish, well-pedigreed action tale and still be wildly entertaining, and it’s to the credit of the filmmakers and actors that it mines deeper, and more subtle terrain.” These high compliments are justified, asEscape at Dannemorarisked alienating viewers with its slow pace. While the gradual rise of tension may be too laborious for some to endure and the graphic content is sometimes sickening to watch,Escape at Dannemoramanages to add insight on its central characters that go beyond simply dramatizing their lives.
It’s rare that a series is so richly compelling when all three main characters have questionable motivations. Stiller does not shy away from giving details about Matt and Sweats’ past, and how their earlier crimes landed them in such a high security prison. In fact, it becomes particularly unnerving to see them have relatively normal conversations considering the violent actions that they are capable of. Other recent drama shows about real crimes, such as Netflix’sMonster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, offer a more graphic depiction of the grizzly aspects, yet Stiller finds a more ambiguous approach that doesn’t rely on shock value.
Unquestionably, Tilly is the most fascinating character, and Arquette does not attempt to leave the viewers with any false presumptions about her decisions. While she’s unquestionably guilty in assisting these men, whether she deserves sympathy is left to the viewer to determine.
