The DVD of the Ashby cut of the film (which he'd donated without telling anyone that it had fifteen extra minutes) was released with great fanfare. Finally this film had a chance of being seen in the director's vision.

Except that we are no better off. This is still a horrid film that goes nowhere.

Ashby was a fine director who unfortunately got lost in a drug haze in his later years. Despite the enthusiasm of all concerned in the interviews on the DVD, this is a movie that runs out of steam very early. Voight plays an obnoxious character whom we don't pull for, and Burt Young is wasted as his buddy.

Lookin' to Get Out is a shambles, though the caper enjoyable and laughter infectious.

The characters played by Voight and Young flimsy and silly and Patti's miscast, though that didn't stop me from liking it. They had me, I thought old Smitty had lost his marbles. That he would put them in a deep hole, a very clever finish. The pair seem to be content to leave without any money, considering the risk and they're still going to have those two guys after them.

Because this film has been so stubbornly withheld from the home-video market, it has been years since the last time I saw it. Still, as a serious aficionado of fine acting, I still retain vivid memories of this lively flick and I can not understand all the negative reaction it received. The characters who populate this story are fascinating and memorably enacted by a superb cast. It would be little more than another typical caper flick were it not for the well-drawn weaknesses of the main characters which lead them inexorably into a high pressure situation from which they must try with all their might to escape. If you ever get to see this show, watch for the marvelous work of the numerous supporting players such as Richard Bradford. It is a deliciously glossy, stylish film but with a character-driven story that thoroughly engrossed me each time I saw it. It dances precariously between comedy and drama in a manner which I found intriguing and delightful. In view of all the bad reviews I have read about "Looking to Get Out" I deeply regret that it persists in being unavailable year after year. I would love to look at it again to try to figure out what causes so many folks to dislike it. Is it simply a matter of taste? I do not know.