The Next Three Days is easily one of the most powerful films I've ever seen. The acting is stellar; there is significant character development and there's suspense, mystery, action and many poignant moments. The film also benefits from solid cinematography; and the musical score is very well done. True, that the beginning starts off a little slow; but I think it sets the stage for character development and in that case it's worth it. The plot also has numerous unexpected plot twists and turns as others have noted; just when you think something is about to happen something else might happen instead! That's a fine quality about this film. When the action starts, we meet John and Lara Brennan (Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks) who are having dinner with John's brother Mick and sister-in-law Erit (Michael Buie and Moran Atias). We also see just how happy and gratified John and Lara are with their lives: they are very much in love with one another and they adore their beautiful three year old son, Luke (Tyler Green). Suddenly one morning, however, the police and many detectives barge in and arrest Lara for the murder of her boss; Lara is convicted of this murder even though she says she didn't do it. But they have the evidence: people at work saw Lara fighting many times with her boss; Lara's fingerprints are at the scene of the crime; and her boss's blood stain is on her coat. Three years pass as John faithfully makes his trips to the prison, sometimes with their now six year old son Luke (who is now played by Ty Simpkins). John is greatly pained at Lara's emotional deterioration; she tries to kill herself after all legal appeals have failed and she even angrily tells John that she did commit the murder! John, however, doesn't believe Lara did it, not even for a moment. John realizes that he can't be without Lara: she is being transferred to another correctional facility far away and her mental health is only getting worse and worse. In a frenzy John makes a three day plan to get Lara out of prison at any price he is going to free Lara but he doesn't tell her for fear that she might try to stop him. In short, The Next Three Days is jam packed with suspense, mystery, and action. I highly recommend this film for any fan of the actors in it; and anyone who enjoys this genre of film will love this motion picture. Read more
. . . That is, in this case, those who think a cause causes only one effect. In real life, most causes have many effects. Absolutists who think implausible causes should be discounted will lack my enthusiasm for this film. In 'The Next Three Days', many small causes win over one big cause. In the world of philosophy, the term is 'a causal chain', one event leads to another and others up to the final effect. Most movies talk one cause for end effect. Quick, neat, familiar. Writer/Director Haggis goes a more complex route, which makes this engrossing, well-acted and written/directed by Haggis film both unusually challenging and satisfying. The price of admission: Thinking is required. But not enough to damped your appreciation for the film. Haggis wrote other recent tricky flicks: Casino Royale (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition) and both wrote and directed Crash (Widescreen Edition) Neither are cut-and-dried, both quite complex with ambiguous characters/plots. Just like real life. The advantage of this approach: his films can be seen again and again while still providing their initial impact. Maybe just describe this film is 'equivocal' as well as entertaining. I've seen it twice, end to end; maybe even liked it better the second time through. Nit-pick: the Last-minute proof of guilty or not is rather too-fortuitous and pat and hurriedly presented in a 'What? Did the police consider this initially?' Haggis's faultless direction falters a bit here, logically and in presentation. But really, guilty or not doesn't drive this fine movie. More than any film I've seen recently, this has a character-driven plot. All characters contribute to the mystery one way or another. Another point of logic is why Crowe's character puts such into devising his wife's escape meanwhile staunchly believing in her innocence (maybe a too-frequent device for such guilty/not-guilty causes?) Yes, another nit pick; but not enough to delete a star from such a fine flick. Read more
I consider myself a pretty serious student of cinema, and I have been for over four decades. But sometimes I'll rent a thriller I've never heard of simply to get my mind off of things. Sometimes I just want to watch a popcorn movie instead of a film, instead of a piece of high art. Well, I'll tell you something... I swear to you... This film LITERALLY MADE MY HEART BEAT FAST for the last fifteen minutes. And the equally cinematically educated woman with me sat on my couch motionless for the final ten minutes with her hand over her mouth, with tears welled up in her eyes. It's easy to fall into hyperbole and say this and that is the greatest so and so... because we want to share our exuberance when we make a great find these days, with Hollywood grinding out so... much... insulting garbage... but even so... I'm going to choose my words carefully. This film is a masterpiece. Superb, moderated performances... clever and twisting script... brilliant editing and sound... and in terms of the direction, well... It may have the most heart gripping, white knuckle and deeply emotional final fifteen minutes I've ever seen in any film... in my life. Let me put it this way. Be prepared because if your house catches on fire during the last 15 to 30 minutes of this film... you won't notice it. Read more
I love the movie. Very entertaining from start to finish. I love the ending! But I gave it only 4 stars because I have to close my eyes during the violent parts! Read more
Good quality product. Read more
