The Next Three Days
As a director, Paul Haggis has been hit-and-miss; his 2005 Oscar-winner “Crash” was simple-minded and long-winded as it explored racism in Los Angeles, while his next film (2007’s “In the Valley of Elah”) was an underappreciated look at one mother’s struggle to find the truth about the death of her soldier son. He was much more consistant as a co-writer on the last two Bond films, “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace,” and Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby.” Color me surprised, then, when I was enthralled by his third film as a director. Alright, enthralled is a bit much for a movie that sometimes drags on in its 130-plus running time, but drawn-out running time (and gaping holes in logic) aside, Haggis and stars Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks spin quite a yarn of Hitchcockian suspense.
Crowe stars as John Brennan, a community college lit teacher who seems to have an idillic life with wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) and son Luke. After a night out with friends, they go home for the night, even if Lara is still a bit worked up from an encounter with her boss and with a friend’s wife at dinner. The next morning, their life gets thrown upside down when Lara is accused of murdering her boss the night before. The evidence points to her guilt, but John is unconvinced. Three years into her sentence, Lara attempts suicide, leading John to take risks to get his wife out of jail.
On the surface, “The Next Three Days” appears to be classic Hitchcock about a wrongly accused person and the lengths to which he/she will go in order to clear his/her name. The difference is that one protagonist is split into two, and rather than try to convince people of the truth, John is more determined to spring Lara from prison, enlisting the expertise of a famed prison breaker (Liam Neeson in a sharp cameo) to get him on his way. Much of the film is devoted to John getting all his ducks in a row before actually attempting the break, and while it is interesting stuff, it is hardly enough to sustain the film’s running time. More compelling is the break itself, which is as ingenious as it is improbable, especially when the police get on John as a suspect for another crime and put the pieces together. Don’t worry; John’s crime is a means to an end in getting Lara out. This is where the unlikely casting of Crowe as a suburban husband and college professor is successful: we need to believe that this regular joe can turn into a credible action star. Yes, it’s hard to believe Crowe and Banks as a real-life couple, but it’s an “only in the movies” conceit that works like a charm in the end. “The Next Three Days” is hardly an award-season player, but as adult entertainment in a multiplex culture driven by teen and family consumption, it will suffice as something to watch between Oscar contenders.
