BRIAN Cox plays a wise old crimi nal masterminding a prison break in “The Escapist,” a loud, busy and muddled action drama.

Cox’s character, about whom we know virtually nothing, is resolved to bust out to save his daughter from drugs. He puts together an elaborate plan as the film shatters into a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards that become annoying to the audience long before the director tires of them.

Moreover, it all leads nowhere. There are pull-the-rug-out endings, and then there are pull-the-floor-out endings. “The Escapist” leaves you standing on nothing, like Wile E. Coyote, wondering why you bothered to come this far.

Running time: 102 minutes. Not rated (violence, profanity). At the Village East, 2nd Avenue and 12th Street.