Based on real events, and standing as a kind of metaphor for personal and political complexities, the maze in writer/director Steven Burke’s (81) new film ‘Maze’ is an intricate web of human interactions, political turmoil, and the struggles of ordinary men during extraordinary times.

In short, ‘Maze’ follows Larry Marley, an imprisoned mid-level IRA soldier who is transferred to the infamous Maze prison at the end of a hunger strike that resulted in the death of ten of his comrades. Tom Vaugh-Lawlor’s (Love Hate) portrayal of Marley as a patient man of simmering restrained conviction is quite compelling. Though we suspect his heart is filled with rage, he rarely shows this to anyone.

Marley is desperate to get out, but when he learns that, to his dismay, his son is following in his footsteps in Belfast, his commitment turns to reuniting with his family (not escaping into exile), and setting a better example. His focus is thus, even as he plots to help 38 of his fellow IRA inmates escape. To do so, he, by turns, “befriends” and betrays one of the guards, portrayed by Barry Ward (Jimmy’s Hall) as Marley’s right-side-of-the-law foil.

At its core, ‘Maze’ wants to be a film about The Troubles, and the personal cost to members of the IRA. But it primarily focuses on the prison break orchestrated by Marley. The result is a film which is one part historical drama, one part prison break, and one part small personal drama about the emotional costs of supporting a cause that, at times, seems futile at best. It’s a lot to take on in 90 minutes, and ‘Maze’ only mostly succeeds.

The intricacies of life in the infamous HMP Maze, where loyalist and republican prisoners were sometimes forced to share space on the same cell block, seems real enough. And, the cross-politics friendships of men trapped inside, with the system as a common foe, are credible. But the ability to pass notes and work the guards is almost too easy, and many of those onscreen moments seem a bit contrived.

For the prison break to work, the details must all fall into place. And, mostly they do. The loss of tension there, and the fact that we’re really only given two scenes to develop empathy for Marley, make it somewhat difficult to root for him.

Overall, the film is well-made. The art direction, cinematography, and sound design work well to create a cold, faceless institution. And that’s a theme that Burke seems to apply to the IRA as well.

In the end, Steven Burke’s ‘Maze’ is a complex tale of The Troubles, and one man’s struggle to matter, even as the system (all sides of it) tries to keep him in line. Though well-made, with a nice bit of acting from Love Hate’s Nidge, ‘The Maze’ bites off a bit more than it can chew, and comes off as a so-so political story,§ 1 with a prison break that’s a bit too easy.

‘Maze’ opens in Irish cinemas on September 22.

Review by Glenn Kaufmann, a Dublin-based freelance writer, and one of the founders of No-Budget, a show for independent filmmakers. Click on the link to discover more:http://bit.ly/2thKXVW