
Matt broke Rickerson’s neck, cut off his limbs with a hacksaw, and dumped his body in the Niagara River, according to NBC News.

In 2008, Matt was found guilty of brutally murdering an elderly businessman, William Rickerson, who had fired him, and he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
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"He's a manipulator, a bully, but then again, maybe that's the only way he knows how to get what he wants." He killed several people," Del Toro told Showtime. And you add to that money, drugs - you have a time bomb."Ī delinquent since his teen years, Matt went on to live a life of crime that included harassment, assault and weapons possession, and eventually led to a string of murders. Of his character Richard Matt, actor Benicio Del Toro said, "Emotionally, he was broken. Her relationship with Matt, it's scary, and it throws her off completely because it's not something she really knows how to do." “I think she's really in love with him in a very teenage-y kind of way. "Tilly's relationship with Sweat is flirty, but also maternal,” Arquette told Showtime. She disclosed that Matt kissed her and forced her to perform oral sex, but that she didn't say anything because she "was scared for my husband, who also works in the facility." During her confession, Mitchell said Sweat was "very nice" to her, but they "never had a physical relationship." After becoming close with Matt, however, Mitchell said he became sexually violent with her. Mitchell met Clinton Correctional Facility inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt (whom she would eventually help escape) when they were assigned to jobs in the prison's tailor shop, which Mitchell ran. Still, it's worth checking out to see these actors doing some majorly solid work with what they're given, and to check out Stiller's skillful - if overly long - filmmaking.To prepare for her role as prison employee Joyce "Tilly" Mitchell, actress Patricia Arquette told Showtime she watched interviews and read various police transcripts to dig deeper into her character.Īrquette explained, "When a person you're playing is very different than yourself, it's not immediately clear why this person's doing what they do."

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That being said, the series takes far too long to set up and roll out its basically simple plot, and the pace can wear on you after a while. These men are murderers, though, and the show doesn't pull punches when it finally delves into their past crimes. Del Toro turns in a solid performance as Richard Matt, a charismatic con man who enjoys his status of king of the prison block, who also happens to be a surprisingly adept painter.ĭano is likewise impressive as the quieter, yet still cunning David Sweat, all working-class machismo with a sensitive side. Watching Arquette's frumpy, restless Tilly manipulate and be manipulated by these canny criminals is a real joy to watch. Escape from Dannemora draws its inspiration from an outlandish and gritty true story, and Ben Stiller does an impressive job at playing it straight and much darker than his past directorial efforts. Though this series gets the tone right, and the all-star cast is doing some of the best work of their careers, it's a struggle to understand why the story needed to be stretched out to eight episodes.

Characters are frequently shown smoking and drinking, but it's not portrayed as glamorous - the whole vibe here is definitely one of broken down and depressed people. There are multiple sex scenes, mostly clothed, but male and female buttocks are sometimes seen. A character is shot and killed by police. There are references to some pretty grisly crimes (the two inmates who escape are both convicted murderers), and your usual scenes of prisoners pushing each other around trying to assert their dominance behind bars. It's directed by Ben Stiller and stars Benicio Del Toro, Paul Dano, and a nearly unrecognizable Patricia Arquette. Parents need to know that Escape at Dannemora is an eight-part drama series based on the true story of a prison break in upstate New York. Lots of smoking by various characters.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide. Prisoners drink homemade booze in their cells.
