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The Next Three Days
The Next Three Days (2010)

A movie Starring Russell Crowe and directed by Paul Haggis

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The Next Three Days

  • Mar 16, 2011
  • by
Exclusive to the Lunch Network
Rating:
-1
This got totally eclipsed at the box office by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1, and for obvious reasons. This also got fairly mixed reviews from critics and I can definitely see why. The Next Three Days isn't heinous or terrible or anything, but its not spectacular by any means and is just plain forgettable. I was never really much of a Russell Crowe fan myself, and I still am rather indifferent towards him, but I can't deny that he is good in this movie, along with Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson (for all ten minutes he was in the movie).

The Next Three Days is a remake of a french film called Pour Elle (For Her) and it stars Russell Crowe as John Brennan, a college professor who's wife Lara (Banks) gets arrested for a murder she claims she did not commit. When they lose their final appeal, Lara becomes suicidal. John, previously tasked with working on Lara's appeal while balancing his teaching and raising their son, becomes obsessed with the idea of breaking her out of prison. He takes whatever measures are necessary to do so after receiving the advice of Damon Pennington (Neeson) who broke out of prison seven times and even wrote a book on the subject (why would you want to write a book if you just got out of prison? wouldn't you want to lie low or something? anyway, moving on). I won't tell you how it ends, but the movie pretty much shows his journey through the planning of the breakout. Only after the 45 minute mark do things get somewhat interesting, and the breakout scene is when it starts getting really good. If only the whole movie had been like the breakout scene, it probably would have been a bit more memorable. One other weird thing though, why did Elizabeth Banks' hair go from blonde to brown, I didn't know one was allowed hair dye (or scissors) in prison.

That brings me to a very bad thing about the movie that kept me from enjoying it fully. The film as a whole is very poorly paced and the scenes that had no purpose just prattled on and died. The interesting scenes, they were really well-done and well-made, but the movie on a whole was rather boring. I liked the scene with Liam Neeson and the breakout scene, so like I said, when it was good, it was really good, it just wasn't good that often. The story is interesting definitely, although I can't say it kept my interest throughout (i refer you to my previous boredom comments). All in all, the movie is poorly paced, but with a good story behind it, even if the story is entirely preposterous, like the critics said.

Like I said earlier in this review, I am not a huge fan of Russell Crowe or Elizabeth Banks, but they both gave undeniably strong performances in this film that, without them, the movie would be a lot worse. The other supporting performances were good as well, like Olivia Wilde as Nicole, the single mother than John leaves Luke with and Brian Dennehy as John's father. But the scene-stealing performance would definitely have to be Liam Neeson as Damon Pennington, the prison break expert. He was in the movie for maybe 15 minutes tops and yet Liam is such an awesome actor that he manages to steal the show from everyone. Needless to say, the performances were pretty good, but nothing oscar-worthy.

All in all, The Next Three Days is just a mediocre film of 2010. When its good, its really good, but it's just not good enough to be a good movie. Some decent scenes, but very poor pacing. Some decent performances and a decent storyline are what make this movie what it is: neither good nor bad. I would not really recommend it but if you have your own reasons for watching then go right on ahead, don't let me stop you. Not the best film of 2010, not the worst.

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More The Next Three Days (2010) reviews
review by . November 21, 2010
posted in Movie Hype
3 ½ Stars: How Far Would You Go To Keep Your Family Together?
Remakes. Seems like Hollywood is at it again. After all the major publicity and promos that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” had packed in, one wouldn’t be hard-pressed to think that a remake would not be able to compete (let alone be noticed) with an expected money-maker such as that successful  franchise. Ok, I know that doesn’t have anything to do with director Paul Haggis’ “The Next Three Days” besides their release dates but I had to …
review by . February 26, 2011
posted in Movie Hype
All hell breaks loose!
What part of our lives is truly under our control? And herein lies the story of a man trying to keep things in control in his life. He attempts to keep his family intact by trying to rescue his wife from imprisonment for a crime she didn’t commit!      The key to escape. Escaping is easy, according to a past convict. The hardest part of thing is to leave…  ask yourself, IF you can do it. What entails doing it is to lose one’s identity and all that you’ve …
review by . May 20, 2011
Two themes play out in this film
Two themes play out in this film: a Don Quixote unrealistic quest and fate. A man is totally oblivious to the fact that evidence proves that his wife killed a woman; she was convicted at trial, and lost her appeals. He is in love with her and determined to find a way to break her out of jail. As with the unrealistic Don Quixote, he gets into one problem after another, including being beat up and not having enough cash to carry out his plan. He resorts to robbery. His plan is perfect, but fate intervenes. …
review by . March 30, 2011
Too Slow, Then Too Naive
What this film needs: 1. Decent secondary characters to make the first two acts more interesting.  The roles are there (Olivia Wilde as a neighbor, Brian Denehy as Crowe’s father) but they’re just that – roles.  No meat on the bones. 2. Tommy Lee Jones in “The Fugitive.”   A decent cop antagonist would do WONDERS for this film.  And hey, while he’s trying to foil Crowe’s plan, he could actually tie up the loose ends of whether or not …
review by . December 03, 2010
posted in Movie Hype
Is it too much to hope that, when a studio has the wherewithal - and budget - to pull together such cinematic luminaries as Russell Crowe, Brian Dennehy and Liam Neeson, that it won't insult its audience's intelligence with the result? Once upon a time, Hollywood threw its big name stars challenging roles, and they produced erudite, artful, memorable and, well, *thrilling* thrillers, like The Silence of the Lambs, L.A. Confidential or Memento. No longer, apparently. Nowadays the best you'll get …
Quick Tip by . December 11, 2010
Anyone interested in a little further insight into this pretty decent Paul Haggis film, should check out my interview with the director himself ... http://blacksheepreviews.blogspot.com/2010/1...rviews-paul-haggis.html
see all The Next Three Days (2010) reviews (7)
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About this movie

Wiki

A woman is accused of murder. This affects the relationship between her and her husband. Her husband, a professor, takes extreme actions in an attempt to free her from prison.
 
The Next Three Days is a remake of the 2007 French film Pour Elle (Anything for Her) by Fred Cavayé. The plot of Pour Elle involved a teacher Julien (Vincent Lindon) who experienced difficulties when his wife (Diane Kruger) became a suspect in a murder investigation and was arrested. Julien does not believe that his wife is guilty of the crime, and attempts to remove her from the prison.
 
Pour Elle was Cavayé's directing debut. The film was one of the main attractions of the Alliance Française French Film Festival in 2010. Cavayé explained the plot and motivation for making the film, "We wanted to make a real human story about an ordinary man doing an extraordinary thing because he's faced with a miscarriage of justice. The film also talks about courage - saying how you show courage depending on the situation. In France, for example, there were good people who did not go into the Resistance against the Germans."
 
Cavayé told The Age regarding the remake of the film by Haggis, he is eager "To be a spectator of my own film". The director commented on the news his film would be remade by Haggis, "It's a strange feeling. I wrote this story in my very small apartment in Paris. When I saw my name next to Russell Crowe ...
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Tags

Movies, Drama Movies, Action Movies, In Theaters, Movie Remakes, Russell Crowe Movies
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Details

Director: Paul Haggis
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: November 19, 2010
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Screen Writer: Paul Haggis
Runtime: 122 minutes
Studio: Lionsgate
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"How Far Would You Go To Keep Your Family Together?"
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