11/5/2010 -- The Next Three Days. -From Gayle-Lynne:

I had a chance to see “The Next Three Days “ here in  Los Angeles 11/4/10. Though there had been no more passes when I first tried—I had a bit of luck when I followed the Murphsplace.com link once again to the screening-- and was able to obtain a pass.  So did my friend.

Allison and I saw it at the AMC 16 theater in Burbank , California. We saw the final cut of the film with end credits.

Briefly “Next Three Days” tells the story about a college professor John Brennan (Russell Crowe), his wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) , and their young son Luke.  We first meet the Brennans at dinner. The conversation is witty and well done. However there is a bit of tension in the air at the dinner table.  That tension comes from someone else at the table.  Later we see a bit of their life at home. John is clearly in love with his wife and son.

Their normal family life is suddenly interrupted, when their home is overwhelmed by police officers entering, to arrest Laura for murder committed during a robbery.  This scene is well played and difficult to watch because of the reactions of their son and his parents to what has befallen them.

Pittsburgh serves as the main locale of this film. Having been to Pittsburgh myself a few times I recognized many locales. After her arrest, Lara is incarcerated in a jail in Pittsburgh. There is at one point a threat of her being transferred to a prison elsewhere. She is convicted of her alleged crimes.  She stands to spend most of her life in prison.

John continues to teach and tries to maintain a normal life at home. He visits his parents. He meets people at the park.

The appeal does not go well. From here on we see how this affects all their lives and those around them. We watch the stress and emotions.  It is real.  

John and and Lara are obviously frustrated by the appeals process.  And when this fails and the future looks bleak – John does not react like Gerard Butler’s character in “Law Abiding Citizen” – but he does react.  John researches and this puts him in contact with a ex con named Damon who has written a book about his life in prison and successful escapes. Damon is played by Liam Neeson. Neeson’s role is short but pivotal. Basically he gives John advice and a road map to plan what John feels ever so much compelled to do.

From here on we watch John’s plan unfold and we see him prepare. His parents especially his Father,played by character actor Brian Dennehy, worry. Their son denies anything is wrong. His brother suspects something as well.  

At one point during his preparations, his wife has a emergency, which convinces John that he must do all he can. This decision and compulsion put him in touch with criminal elements he would never of been exposed to as a professor. We watch him do things we would not of expected of him before.  

There are moments of fun and humor. This helps the audience to relax before and after tense, difficult, and even the thrilling  moments. There are moments in this film which echo aspects of Harrison Ford’s “The Fugitive”.  An intelligent man engaged in, and desperately trying to deal with a life crisis.  

There are moments of thrills which pay off much better then Russell’s previous film “Tenderness.”  One sequence in particular really had my heart pounding.

Does Brennan get his wife out, does she survive, do the police catch up them  and if so what happens, what happens to his family, what does he specifically do to work out his plan and act on it? Does he descend into madness that other love ones notice? These and many other questions I will not answer here as it would not be fun to give you those spoilers. And I won’t tell you how this one ends—I will leave it to you to see.

I want you to experience the twists and turns this film gives us. I can tell you I love how Paul Haggis put it together. He was a master with “Crash.” And He does a wonderful job here. 

All of the cast is superb. Russell Crowe masterfully uses his eyes, and face to convey what he is experiencing. Sometimes there was an expression which reminded me of his other characters including John Nash;  this is not really a caricature of those other characters.  Russell combines a mix of action, family life, academia, and the potential for madness quite well.

In some ways Crowe’s Robin Longstride in Robin Hood and John Brennan in this film are both men who are decent and must change due to circumstances.

Elizabeth Banks does a very good job holding her own with Crowe. She competently displays a broad range of emotions. I believed and liked her performance very much.

More than one young actor played the son. I liked them all. This was not a child playing a brat. This was a little boy caught in his family’s descent into hell.

Liam Neeson I have always loved ever since “Rob Roy” and “Schindler’s list”. He is in this film for too short a time for me—but it makes sense in the context of the story.

I have always liked Brian Dennehy. He is an observer in this film. He does not have a lot of dialogue – perhaps he is under utilized. The actress playing Brennan’s mother has more lines.

As for all of the rest of the supporting cast: whether they were police officers, nurses, prison personnel, friends, family, or nefarious types they were good.

I do hope when awards season comes around that Russell is considered as well as Banks. I can see some other technical awards as well.   I do think Crowe’s other film “Robin Hood”  deserves some attention as well; but the performances are in this film might be more to the voters’ liking. Danny Elfman’s music was good. One of the songs in this film sounded like it was sung by Russell though I think the end credits did not confirm this is so.

From my standpoint  this has been a good year for Russell. Though box office might differ with me; I loved Robin Hood and now this film.   All in all –this is a excellent film which I highly recommend. I will see this again and hope you do as well.

Gayle-Lynne G. 11/5/10.

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