Getaway

Seriously manipulated former race-car driver Brent Magna (Hawke) is forced to steal a car and undergo a series of stunts after his wife is kidnapped and threatened with death if he doesn't comply. A mysterious voice tells him what he must do in order that she not be killed. The car has cameras mounted all over its exterior and interior so the voice can see where the car is going and what Magna is doing to make sure he is following commands. The voice regularly calls him in the car to tell him what he must do next.

Early on, a young girl (Gomez) tries to take the car away from him. Resisting him, she initially claims the car is really hers. Eventually, she instead joins with him in trying to escape the manipulation and cruel commands he is being given. She proves to be a skilled hacker and an admirable strategist.

This is not a remake of Sam Peckinpah's The Getaway, but a new effort. The film is loaded with action and violence, although not in any logical or accessible way. Exploding car chases dominate, although their lack of geographic detail renders them generic and senseless.

The film is more than a bit of a mess, with the crashes, explosions, and gunfire all dominating the action, if never quite coalescing into anything coherent. Despite a running start and a pace that never stops, Getaway is more confusing than anything else.