The Next Three Days

One of the most important things I learned while doing my undergrad in history was to consider the bias of the author. Every nonfiction book has an author, even text books. And those authors bring various prejudices, stereotypes, and biases to the table regardless of how authoritative the text may seem. With that being said I must admit my own personal biases with this film. The last few movies I've watched were comedies and I am not sure if I enjoyed The Next Three Days so much because it is intrinsically a wonderful film, or because I was just happy for an action/drama. Onward!

Up until half way through this movie I thought it was ah-ma-zing. Maybe because the first half was the drama part and the second half was the action part, if I can generalize. I loved the family dynamic and individual personalities of John (Russell Crowe) and Lara (Elizabeth Banks) I loved where the plot was going - until John decides that he is going to get Lara out of jail not through the supreme court, but by bustin' her outta there. I figured I'd go with it, it was not the direction I was hoping the movie would go, but I can roll with it, it could happen. Russell Crowe could totally pull this off in real life, right? (ok so it was believable up until then)

Part of what I liked about this movie is also the reason I was frustrated with it. What I liked was that there were enough missteps and curves that at times I legitimately thought that the movie might not end with a conventional happily ever after. I liked how it kept me guessing and in suspense (again maybe just because none of the movies I've watched lately had much suspense). And I don't want to ruin this one for anybody, because I did like watching this movie and I hope you will too but... I'll just say the ending is formulaic, and not the curve I was hoping it might be.

My verdict:

A solid drama/action. (Sorry that's all I've got for this one)

On an unrelated note, someone alerted me (thank you) to the fact that people without certain email accounts were unable to comment on my posts. I have rectified the situation and you can now comment as "anonymous" hopefully this will result in a flood of comments, though I won't take it personally if it doesn't.

Thanks, Vikki