Every so often in life, one is faced with compromising circumstances that require creating more trouble before anything is resolved.
Russell Crow’s character “John Brennan” falls into this pattern in “The Next Three Days,” which showcases his struggle of breaking the law in order to free his imprisoned wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks).
Early in the film, Lara is established as a dark, argumentative woman. She bickers with her gorgeous friend while on a double date with their husbands, who are entirely unable to break the exchange of catty insults, ending with the female friend claiming, “If I wanted your husband, I could have him.” Ironically, the argument is born when the two begin discussing Lara’s hatred of her new female superior at work.
These two fights seem minimally significant until a day later when police officers burst through the Brennans’ family home and pronounce that Lara is under arrest for the murder of her boss.
Fast-forward three years later, it is determined that Lara will spend the rest of her life in prison for a murder she denies committing. She attempts suicide but fails, at which point John decides to break her out and flee the country.
The majority of the lengthy film chronicles John’s ardent efforts to cheat the legal system, failure after failure. Although his character is a college professor, he clearly lacks any realistic knowledge of how to read people as trustworthy or not. He puts not only himself at risk, but also his young son, who would be orphaned if anything were to happen to John, now a single father.
After John finally forces his wife’s freedom, sparking the overdone chase scene, the police become the real enemy in this film, which continually makes audiences root for the “bad guy.”
The acting in this story is a saving grace. All characters, especially Crowe, display their heartbreak unquestionably. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the setting, makes the sorrowful acting even more powerful, with plenty of shots of Crowe trying to raise his son alone with a gloomy backdrop of trees and clouds, beautiful and somber.
Several plot holes and unrealistic occurrences insult the intelligence of the film’s viewers, such as John’s sudden abandonment of his career. In the midst of his planning, executing and failing the escape of he and his wife, John simply stops instructing classes. This is never addressed, and is presumably not an issue. Further, in the midst of a police get-away, the family steals a van and uses it as their get-away car for what seems to be hours without any difficulty starting it.
John’s efforts seem especially wasted because of Lara’s indifference as to whether or not they successfully escape. She constantly objects to his hard work and planning by insisting that he give up. At one point, she opens the door in their moving get-away car at and, again, tries to kill herself until John reaches out, grabs her arm and miraculously stops the car and pulls her inside in the middle of a freeway — no highway police to be found.
Unfortunately, this “runaway” film runs on, and on, until there is little left to hope for except for its end. The countless close calls with police will evoke far too many eye-rolls from audiences who will hopefully be awake by the end, which is rather unexpected and significantly better than the majority of the film.
If 25 minutes or so were eliminated from this film, it would be far better and hold the audience’s attention more affectively. The better parts, as well as the good acting are noteworthy, but are minimally noticeable because of the long run-time and presence of long gaps of repetitive car chases.
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