THE NEXT THREE DAYS

CAROLINE: I’ve been excited to see The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe since first seeing the trailer a few months ago, largely because our girl Elizabeth Banks has a prominent role. But it also looked action packed and exciting.

RYAN: Sadly, I didn’t get to attend this screening with you, since I was at the third of four Harry Potter screenings I’ve attended in the past week. Did the movie live up to your expectations?

CAROLINE: Partially. It’s written and directed by Paul Haggis of Crash fame, so that’s a major plus. But it’s a really slow burn, and a little long. The really good stuff doesn’t come till the last 30 minutes of the movie, and I was expecting it much sooner.

RYAN: It’s about a guy who plots to break his wife out of jail, right?

CAROLINE: Yes, with an emphasis on the plotting. The bulk of the movie is Russell Crowe visiting Elizabeth Banks in jail, being convinced that she’s innocent of the murder she was convicted of, and then plotting for months to bust her out. It doesn’t necessarily drag; I was just surprised at how long it took to get to the actual prison break.

RYAN: Yeah, that’s weird. I would have thought the prison break would take up the bulk of the movie.

CAROLINE: I think they could have done with a little less of the planning, and cut to the chase sooner. The movie is over two hours, which it didn’t really need to be.

RYAN: What about Liam Neeson’s part?

CAROLINE: It’s very much a cameo; he only has one quick scene, but it’s a good one. He plays a guy who’s broken out of jail seven times and Russell Crowe turns to him for advice. Sometimes you definitely feel like Russell’s in over his head and would never realistically be able to break his wife out of jail. He’s a professor at a community college, for God’s sake, not a criminal. But other times I was happy to suspend my disbelief and roll with it.

RYAN: So how’s the action once you finally get there?

CAROLINE: It’s very tense and exciting, naturally. The movie takes place in Pittsburgh and they shoot the city really well during the escape. I’m not gonna tell you if they’re successful or not, but I was definitely nervous and on the edge of my seat. There are so many things that can go wrong. And I must say, Russell Crowe is great.

RYAN: Ugh. I’m so over him.

CAROLINE: I know he’s a big jerk, but he’s such a good actor. Not always the best American accent, but he’s really good otherwise.

RYAN: Anyone else famous in it?

CAROLINE: Olivia Wilde has a little part, as does Brian Dennehy, who barely has any lines as Russell Crowe’s father.

— BOTTOM LINE —

CAROLINE: I totally enjoyed this movie, though I’m not gonna rave about it. It’s very exciting at the end, but it takes a while to get there. I was kind of wondering what took so long. You do ultimately get some good suspense and action, but the movie definitely didn’t need to be over two hours. I think true Russell Crowe fans will want to see this in the theater, but for the rest of the world, it would be something great to catch on cable.

— RATING —