‘Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn’ unfolds like a twisty thriller

Review by Brian Lowry, CNN

(CNN) — Add “Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn” to the list of documentaries that probably shouldn’t have been expanded to “docuseries” status, taking too long getting to the juicy parts. That said, give credit where it’s due to the thriller-like third chapter of this four-part project, which chronicles the former Nissan executive’s flight from Japan, spinning a yarn that has “Hollywood” written all over it.

For those who somehow missed the international and business headlines, Ghosn was the high-profile leader of the Japanese auto maker before his arrest for money laundering and corruption.

“I couldn’t stand any chance of a fair trial,” Ghosn says in an interview for the docuseries, which capitalizes on extensive access to key participants and is produced by the Wall Street Journal, adapted from a book by two of its reporters. “I was not a legal case. I was a symbol.”

Facing years of confinement, Ghosn made his escape from Japan with the help of former special-forces officer Michael Taylor, who orchestrated the elaborate plot, allowing the executive to find a safe haven in his native Lebanon.

It’s there, however, where “The Escape of Carlos Ghosn” takes yet another wild detour, with documents exposing lavish trips and purchases that Ghosn apparently financed through the company, excesses that catching the eye of French authorities as well.

While Ghosn still paints himself as a victim, the docuseries takes detailed inventory of the collateral damage his flight inflicted on those around him, among them Taylor and his son, Peter.

Director James Jones nicely stitches together the remarkable details of Ghosn’s escape – which involved being smuggled out in a box – as well as the lingering issues surrounding it, including the embarrassment and anger of Japanese authorities. WSJ reporter Sean McLain sums up Ghosn’s tale as a cautionary one about “the dangers of hubris and greed.”

The buildup to that, alas, feels rather plodding, in a way that doesn’t undermine the juicy aspects but does spur impatience to get to them.

Given that Ghosn remains in Lebanon to avoid extradition, “Wanted” is something of a work in progress, and the producers have done an admirable job of laying out the basics of what is, by any measure, a complicated story.

Thanks to its mix of money, international finance and espionage, “The Escape of Carlos Ghosn” possesses all the elements of a grand drama that already inspired a Netflix documentary, “Fugitive: The Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn,” last year.

Perhaps that’s why this is one of those stories where the nonfiction renditions feel a bit boxed in, pardon the expression, and it’s probably best to wait for the seemingly inevitable movie.

“Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn” premieres August 25 on Apple TV+. (Disclosure: Lowry’s wife works for a division of Apple.)

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