Released in Theaters: 11/19/2010
John Brennan (Russell Crowe) is a Pittsburgh community college professor whose life is quickly upended one day when his wife, Lara (Elizabeth Banks), is arrested for the murder of her boss. Coincidentally, John and Lara are out to dinner the night before and Lara is ranting about how she can’t stand her soon-to-be-dead boss. So needless to say, when the cops show up the next morning, it’s a little difficult to explain the blood on her coat and fingerprints – not only at the crime scene, but on the weapon. Fast forward three years and Lara is nothing but a wilting flower behind bars and John has dried up nearly every legal avenue in order to prove his wife’s innocence. He exhausts the appeals process, but stolidly forges ahead. John finds out his wife is due to be transferred to a more secure prison and over the next three days, he diligently maps-out an elaborate and daring escape, one involving guns, bump-keys, ex-cons and meth dealers. But John is gravely warned: keeping her out will be even harder than breaking her out.
Russell Crowe – while one of my favorite actors – feels to be a bit of a miscast. Not that he under performs or over acts, but his role calls for an “ever-day-man”, an unassuming man that would have been better cast with a more “unestablished” actor. Not a Roman General meant to fight in the Colosseum against other gladiators. Nevertheless, a humble and at times brooding performance as a charasmatic family man, Crowe literally transforms from college professor to logistics mastermind in a matter of about 15 minutes. Now, that isn’t Crowe’s fault, but perhaps the script…but we’ll get to that. Elizabeth Banks, taking a break from her comedy quirkiness we’ve seen in films like The 40 Year Old Virgin and even Zack and Miri Make a Porno, shows some real chops here. One scene in particular stands out from the rest. John is visiting Lara in jail, having just come from their attorney’s office finding out they lost their final appeal. No words are spoken, but none need be. Solid performance by both leads.
Liam Neeson has a bit of a cameo in this one. As the prison escapee turned best-selling author Damon Pennington, Neeson appears for just one scene. But perhaps the most interesting, which isn’t saying much. In a low and wiley Brooklyn growl, he shines just a bit brighter as the ex-con who instructs John that getting Lara out will be a hell of lot easier than keeper her free. Pennington ruthless asks John if he’s willing to kill a guard or leave his son at a gas station, because in order to pull this off, that’s the kind of man he’s going to have to become. He’ll need to become ruthless and at times, even violent if the situation dictates it. But above all else, John will need money. A lot of money.
“Show me where the bullets go.”
Adapted by Paul Haggis from the French film “Pour Elle” (Anything For Her), The Next Three Days runs at least a half hour longer than it should. What should have been a high-octane, no holds bard thriller turns out to be a drab and meaningless bust from a very talented filmmaker. Haggis’ hallmark has always been misdirection and subtle clues that will resurface by film’s end. Supporting his theory of a “thriller” being a complex puzzle with elaborate setups and intricate payoffs. Needless to say, the plot to this story seems to be right up his alley. But turns out to be anything but. Aside from the escape sequence, which in it’s hecticness proves to be very suspenseful and fun to watch, all other twists seem to be forced. And though it may be a relief to see Haggis preaching about something other than the evils of racism or the horrors of war, the moral questions he raises in The Next Three Days fail to add any dimension, let alone any real value to the film. Though well acted, the true downturn in this film is that it clocked in at a bloated 122 minutes. While that may seem average for movies these days, films in the genre this film claims to be in, should be tight, faced and relentless in pace.
If The Next Three Day is Paul Haggis’ best attempt at rekindling the fires that made classic “escape/chase” films like The Fugitive, North By Northwest, Bullitt and even Minority Report, than perhaps this just adds fuel to the fire. Leading to further arguments that hailed Haggis as overpraised and his 2004 Academy Award winning film Crash overrated.
Just saying.
IMDb: 7.4/10
Rottentomatoes: 45%
MovieWiseGuys: 6.5/10