The Next Three Days (2010)

When his wife is sent to jail on murder charges she fervidly denies, college professor John Brennan comes up with a plan to break her out by meticulously plotting the ultimate escape -- despite the fact that he's never committed a crime in his life.

The Next Three Days feels as if Hollywood took a great idea and flipped it into a film where everyone comes out a winner in a good ole fashion happy ending. Had it dared to take a few more risks, it could have been something great, maybe even special, but instead the film came and went without very much attention. It is almost as if the film doesn’t exist at all. That is a pretty good accomplishment when you consider Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson all turned up in front of the camera.

The safest decision they decided came in regard on whether or not his wife actually committed the crime.  Instead of playing with the ambiguity of it, I guess they felt it necessary to show her innocence so you could root for her and the mess that the characters make to break her out of prison. I think if they were to make her guilty or rather make it appear she was guilty, would have made the escape and aftermath to feel different in tone and make it a more rewarding payoff. It’d essentially be asking what you would be willing to do to help a loved one rather than freeing her from the injustice the system did to her. The reward would have been worth the risk for this film.

The escape is a little different from your standard breakout film because majority of the film is setting it up and allowing the audience to get a good understanding of how exactly he is going to breakout his wife. It’s interesting, but it all feels a bit too cheesy. Liam Neeson just happens to be readily available in a bar and gives exact instructions on how to break someone out of prison. Just too much of a coincidence to me.  It helps a bit though when you see Crowe fail a few times at what he’s doing and seeing him struggle with putting together enough money to make this work. It helps keep the film from steering too far off into the unbelievable.

All of the action is saved for the film ending escape and it is well-done. The plan has to have precise timing to work, and for the most part it pulls that off. There are a few minor kinks in the plan that the film avoids to make the movie work, but I think they once again played it too safe so that the audience wouldn’t dare question that what this couple is doing is the right thing to do. I just keep seeing the missed potential.

 If you’re interested in watching a good but too cautious prison break film, look no further than this. It plays out a little different than most and the payoff is probably not worth the buildup, but it’s different and you have to give it credit for that. Put in a little more daring plot points and it might not have been passed over as if it never existed. Walk in expecting something better then Takers, but not too much better.

Overall Score: 5.5/10