was lucky enough to catch a theatrical screening of Randy Moore's Escape from Tomorrow at the Roxie Theatre in SF. This film is something very unique and should be an instant cult film. It has an amazing and unbelievable setup: a man's descent into the underbelly of Disney World shot guerrilla-style at Disney World and Disneyland. Disney had no idea this was being done nor were the public aware that a film was being made in their presence.
The movie stars Roy Abramsohn as Jim who found out he lost his job on the morning of his family's last day of vacation at Disney World. As the day progresses we watch as Jim lusts after two French-speaking teenage girls and slowly starts to lose grip on reality. It's unclear if the the fact that he lost his job, that his marriage has lost its spark, something sinister happening at Disney World, or some combination.
Abramsohn does an excellent job as Jim and keeps you interested in a character that would not win father or husband of the year. Also Moore has a good hand in creating the character that you still feel sorry for all that is happening to him even after some of things he does. A little less nuanced is his wife Emily played by Elena Schuber. She does a good job of keeping the character out of the nagging wife/mom role, though the character is not given much else to do. The rest of the cast do relatively well playing their roles, but this is Jim's story.
The film is beautifully shot in black and white. For a guerrilla-style film, I was often impressed with how well the cinematography shined. There is no shaky cam/found-footage to be found here. One thing I didn't realize is that there was also parts of the film shot in studio with a little bit of green screen thrown in. I thought this would change my opinion a little about the film...wouldn't it be much more impressive if everything was shot at the amusement parks and hotel? But I think that by doing this, it helped create a better story and allowed them to do things they could not do at the parks.
Escape from Tomorrow, despite the dark nature of the film, is surprisingly funny...laugh out loud funny. Part of it part of the writing, but some parts are laughing at home some of the scenes can happen while being filmed in public without anyone catching them. When the film starts you are very aware of this, but to the film's credit you slowly forget this as the story draws you in. And Moore knows when to remind of that fact.
I would like people to know that this movie will not ruin your opinion of Disney. The "underbelly of Disney" is usually part of Jim's mental break. If anything, I am impressed that Disney did not fight this movie from being shown let alone find distribution. They probably figured doing so would only create bad press. They have not officially commented on the film, but they are aware of the film since it is listed in their Disney A to Z: An Official Encyclopedia.
I keep having an internal debate on how no one noticed this was going on. Supposedly, the closest they got to being caught was filming the actors entering the park a few times in short succession where a Disney employee asked them why and why they were being filmed doing so. The actors played it off saying they forgot sunblock for their kids and left to get it and apply it. But maybe I shouldn't be so surprised as we as a nation usually look the other way and try not to get involved unless necessary. Also, it is not uncommon for parents/relatives to film their family's trip, and people are so involved with their own trip. How often do you notice others while out? My guess for most is not that much. I like to people watch and notice things, but then again I don't have kids to always keep an eye on. And I doubt I would have noticed much of went on in this movie save a few scenes. Perhaps the film is commenting on this somehow.
Moore and company provide an enthralling story, which would be more than enough for a good film, but add in the guerrilla-style filming and that this film was allowed to see the light of day and Escape from Tomorrow deserves to be seen.
