Movie Review: 'The Next Three Days'

Paul Haggis’ name carries a lot of weight among the Oscar-movie-loving-crowd. Being responsible for great movies such as CRASH and MILLION DOLLAR BABY, he had my full allegiance and support when it came to his new movie, THE NEXT THREE DAYS. Starring Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, it’s about a married couple who’s life is thrown into chaos when the wife, Laura (Banks), is accused of murder and sentenced to life in prison…and the lengths her husband John (Crowe) will go to make sure she is set free. Like Haggis’ other films, THE NEXT THREE DAYS poses some tough moral dilemmas to wrap our heads around. Unlike his other films though, don’t except a best picture nomination. And certainly not a best screenplay one. Within the first 10 minutes of the film Laura is arrested…and then the film jumps three years later, showing John and their son visiting Laura in prison. But don’t worry, we still get to hear the details of the case because John and their lawyer are conveniently going over it out loud as they wait to see if Laura’s appeal will be approved. When it isn’t, Laura attempts to commit suicide, a wake up call for John who decides the only shred of hope they have left is him breaking her out of prison. Maybe all of this would be effective if the filmmakers lingered on any one scene or situation for more than 10 seconds–let us get as riled up as John so that we too feel like the only solution is to risk absolutely everything. Everything is done so hastily…that is, until John meticulously starts planning the prison break (pretty much the whole first half of the movie). Then, everything goes slow, and most of it feels unnecessary. Crowe is fantastic as the devoted husband, and every second he was on screen I believed that he believed that his wife was innocent…I just wasn’t so sure how confident I was on the matter. The movie opens with a scene of Laura and John out to dinner with another couple in which Laura shows her protectiveness over her man when the other woman at the table sends a sexual innuendo his way. A few minutes after this it cuts to the next morning, where Laura takes a picture of the family at breakfast, a tradition she wants to keep in place until her young son is 18. Painting her out as the picture-perfect image of a good mother and loving wife would have been ideal if more than 6 minutes was devoted to the two. See I didn’t need to know right away if she was innocent or not…I just needed more than what was given to have any reason to feel one way or the other.

Since the story is kind of flimsy and all the time devoted to his planning feels like a place holder, more time should have been devoted to the mental anguish John and his son experience due to having the woman in their life behind bars. Instead, we’re given scene after scene of John trying to get fake documents or making notes on a giant map on his wall or meeting with an expert on prison breaks (a wonderful cameo from Liam Neeson), but the emotion which is driving him to such drastic measures seems to just evaporate into thin air. The second half, however, provides us with an action-packed, heart-pounding climax and a very satisfying ending. If the second half of the film was what represented the whole, then we’d be talking about a very skillfully crafted film here. If that were the case though, then we’d be also be dealing with just another people-on-the-run film with no story to lean back on. I enjoyed the 2nd half immensely and I felt for John and Laura’s cause, but throughout 50 percent of the movie I couldn’t stop wishing that they would, quite literally, cut to the chase already.

Rating: C+