Paul Haggis may have been bitten by the action bug when he was hired to polish up the scripts for both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. With his latest film, The Next Three Days, he moves from his more melodramatic work on films such as the Best Picture-winning Crash and In the Valley of Elah to a so-so prison break thriller that suffers from too many highs and lows as Haggis was never able to get a handle on the tension of the film. This film stutters in 5-10 minute bursts, each coming to a close only to ask the audience to start over again with the very next scene. These jagged ups and downs never allow it to find a balance.
The Next Three Days is an adaptation a 2008 French film titled Pour Elle, which I haven’t seen or can even find to try and watch for comparison. Haggis penned the adaptation and brought on the ever-capable Russell Crowe to star as the man determined to break his wife (Elizabeth Banks) out of jail, believing she’s been wrongly accused of murder. Of course, all signs point to her being the one that did it, and Haggis does a good job keeping that small seed of doubt in your mind throughout, but then again most everything is done well in this film, just not with any measure of fluidity.
Crowe is spot on with his performance as a concerned husband and loving father to the couple’s young son. Brian Dennehy plays Crowe’s father and gives a spectacular understated performance in very limited screen time. However, the fact the trailers are selling Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde as significant members of the cast is a bit of a lie as Neeson only has one scene in the film and Wilde’s character could have been played by anyone it’s that insignificant and one note.
Most of the screen time belongs to Crowe whose ability to play an everyman up against the odds is always impressive, even when the film is not.
One big issue this film runs up against is the running time. At just over two hours it is way too long. Scenes setting up future scenes are unnecessarily drawn out and one late instance when Banks’ character puts herself at risk just throws things way out of whack. For most of the film Haggis seems content to keep it as something of a character piece with elements of intrigue, but late in the game he seems to feel the need to up the ante in an attempt to get your heart racing. It results in a story that’s unsure of what it wants to be causing for several speed bumps throughout.
You could see far worse films in the theaters nowadays, but The Next Three Days may be a little too frustrating for most considering today’s ticket prices. With a fast forward button in your hand or perhaps a laptop and your favorite blog nearby this would make for a solid rental, but seeing it in the theater seems unnecessary.
