The Next Three Days

I hate when it seems like a trailer plays out the entire movie for you in three minutes. When I watched the trailer for “The Next Three Days” I thought that was it. So going to the screening, I was not too excited to see it. However, let’s say that I am glad to be wrong. “The Next Three Days” is a very suspenseful and worthwhile action movie.

Russell Crowe plays the husband of a woman (Elizabeth Banks) who is wrongly convicted of murder. After using all their options to try to appeal her case, Crowe’s character decides to take matters into his own hands. After a ton of research, he begins to orchestrate a plan to break her out of jail and flee the country with their son.

There are many twists and turns in this film, which help it from getting stagnant. Crowe plays a normal guy, who has hardly any knowledge of the criminal world. It is hard to know who he can trust. Watching him try and fail at different tactics adds to the suspense. Also, I found it to be nice that he didn’t just turn into a fierce action star once he needed to be one.

Crowe and Banks play their roles well. Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson play short roles. Paul Haggis puts together a well-paced action film. It is slow and fast when it needs to be. Of course, there are moments where you know that couldn’t be done in real life. (At one point, an audience member yelled “That some nice driving!” ) But it’s a movie, and it probably wouldn’t be too interesting if it completely emulated real life.

“The Next Three Days” is definitely one of the better action films I have seen in a while. It’s worth making a trip to the theater to see it. You might even realize how much you missed Russell Crowe.

“The Next Three Days” is now playing in theaters.