SimilarScreen
The Escape Artist

The Escape Artist

The remarkable story of an unusual boy who takes on the world...and wins.

19826.21h 34mPG

Overview

The young and self-confident Danny bluffs at the local police-station that he will escape from prison within an hour. What follows is a flashback showing his childhood with his uncle and aunt, who are 'vaudeville'-artists themselves.

Directed by Caleb Deschanel
Written by David Wagoner, Stephen Zito, Melissa Mathison
Produced by Doug Claybourne, Buck Houghton
Box Office0Revenue: $143K

Where to Watch

Rent

Amazon VideoApple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTubeFandango At Home

Buy

Amazon VideoApple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTubeFandango At Home

Streaming data via JustWatch

Top Cast

Raúl Juliá

Raúl Juliá

Stu Quiñones

Griffin O'Neal

Griffin O'Neal

Danny Masters

Desi Arnaz

Desi Arnaz

Mayor Leon Quiñones

Teri Garr

Teri Garr

Arlene

Joan Hackett

Joan Hackett

Aunt Sibyl

Gabriel Dell

Gabriel Dell

Uncle Burke

John P. Ryan

John P. Ryan

Vernon

E. G. Daily

E. G. Daily

Sandra

M. Emmet Walsh

M. Emmet Walsh

Fritz

Jackie Coogan

Jackie Coogan

Magic Shop Owner

Trailer

Themes & Keywords

based on novel or bookmagicescape artistmagician

About The Escape Artist

The Escape Artist is a comedy, crime, drama film released in 1982 exploring themes of based on novel or book, magic, escape artist, magician. Directed by Caleb Deschanel, it stars Raúl Juliá, Griffin O'Neal, Desi Arnaz. The young and self-confident Danny bluffs at the local police-station that he will escape from prison within an hour. What follows is a flashback showing his childhood with his uncle and aunt, who are 'vaudeville'-artists themselves.

Movies Similar to The Escape Artist

Discover titles like The Escape Artist — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to The Escape Artist

If you enjoyed The Escape Artist, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of The Escape Artist.

Oliver Twist
23% Match

When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
23% Match

Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. Television producer by day, CIA assassin by night, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA at the height of his TV career and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.

Stir Crazy
18% Match

Stir Crazy(1980)

Movie6.5/10

New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery, they no longer have to worry about employment — they're sent to prison.

One Night at McCool's
16% Match

On an ordinary night, in an ordinary part of town, a beautiful young woman walks into a bar. Her name is Jewel, and before long she is chatting to bartender Randy. The pair leave together, but he ends up getting into a tussle with her criminal boyfriend, who she then shoots dead, later persuading Randy to take the rap for her. But this isn't the end of it, as both Randy's cousin Carl and the detective assigned to the murder case also fall for Jewel's charms and find themselves caught up in the ensuing events. It seems that any man who meets Jewel falls instantly in love with her, and she's going to use this fully to her own advantage, leaving a trail of havoc in her wake. It also seems that she is going to get away with it - that is, until Randy decides to hire a hitman...

Analyze That
16% Match

The mafia's Paul Vitti is back in prison and will need some serious counseling when he gets out. Naturally, he returns to his analyst Dr. Ben Sobel for help and finds that Sobel needs some serious help himself as he has inherited the family practice, as well as an excess stock of stress.

The Shawshank Redemption
15% Match

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

The Godfather
15% Match

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

The Sicilian Clan
15% Match

An ambitious mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter-in-law of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.

French Exit
15% Match

“My plan was to die before the money ran out,” says 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite Frances Price, but things didn’t go as planned. Her husband Franklin has been dead for 12 years and with his vast inheritance gone, she cashes in the last of her possessions and resolves to live out her twilight days anonymously in a borrowed apartment in Paris, accompanied by her directionless son Malcolm and a cat named Small Frank—who may or may not embody the spirit of Frances’s dead husband.

Somewhere in Queens
15% Match

Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.

Belly
14% Match

Belly(1998)

Movie6.0/10

Tommy Bundy and Sincere are best friends as well as infamous and ruthless criminals and shot-callers in the hood. Respected by many but feared by all. As the police are closing in on them and new players are looking for a come up, will their reign last?