The Next Three Days

Starring: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Ty Simpkins, Olivia Wilde, Daniel Stern, Brian Dennehy, Liam Neeson, Jonathan Tucker, Jason Beghe, Aisha Hinds, Kevin Corrigan, Lennie Jones
Directed by: Paul Haggis
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After his wife (Elizabeth Banks) is convicted of murder and sent to prison, a professor (Russell Crowe) tries everything to appeal the case. When his options run out, he decides to break her out of jail.

Review:

Tim: I had pretty high hopes for The Next Three Days. It is Paul Haggis' fourth feature film, with the last two being Crash and In the Valley of Elah. I expected an intelligent, well written, thought-provoking and powerful film. While some of those elements are present, the end result feels like it's a bit jumbled. The pieces don't all stick together, and we're left with an amorphous film that never really works as well as it should have.

I really like that this movie is not your conventional break-out-of-prison movie. The action is restrained and minimal. Most of the movie is drama, and somewhat slow-moving at that. It defies the expectations of the genre. This is somewhat refreshing, and somewhat maddening. This is a film that doesn't play by the rules, which makes it harder to understand and appreciate. The story unfolds in very unexpected ways- some good, others bad. I like that this movie took its own path, but I didn't always like where that path led.

The movie felt too long at just over two hours. The action/chase scenes at the end are quite exciting, but to get to that point, we have to sit through some extensive, slow, dramatic moments. I appreciated the time spent on character development, but I wish that the film had built up more momentum. We quickly understand the story- husband decides to break his wife out of prison, doesn't know how, and tries to come up with a plan. Once this is established, the film takes an extraordinarily long time to actually get to where it's going. I wish there had been a bit more urgency in the first hour.

The cast is good, but few give great performances. Russell Crowe was servicable in the lead role. He gave a good performance, but this isn't among his best. It was surprisingly forgettable. Even though it's only been a few years since a big Crowe hit, it feels longer. Elizabeth Banks gave perhaps the best performance of the film, although that is relative. I thought she was fine, but she certainly didn't shine or impress in any special way. I like Olivia Wilde, but I thought her performance here was a throwaway role. Brian Dennehy was laughable just for how little dialogue he had. I loved seeing Daniel Stern, Liam Neeson, and Jonathan Tucker, but their roles were so small, they added practically nothing to the film, besides helping it with their sheer presence. I loved that Lennie James was in this film- I'm a big fan. I just wish he had more to do.

In the end, I thought The Next Three Days was a unique, interesting movie that didn't quite work. I expected more, and I wanted more from Haggis and the rest of those involved. Besides one of two scenes between Crowe and Banks in prison, the movie was surprisingly weak on emotions. I never really cared all that much. That's a shame. This movie could have been great, but it's just disappointing in the end. I certainly didn't hate it, but I wanted significantly more from it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Crash, In the Valley of Elah