The Next Three days and The Shawshank Redemption

This winter was filled with a bombardment of horrid movies in my opinion, but none set the tone quite like the film The Next Three Days. I can give the film credit for presenting a somewhat new idea to the silver screen, the idea of breaking someone out of prison. It’s been done the other way around, like in the film The Shawshank Redemption, where Andy Dufresne is sent to prison for life for the wrongful accusation of murdering his wife. Andy goes through the horrors of prison only to successfully break out and stay free with best friend Red. Both films represent the tone of loss, although they do present them from a different prospective. The Next Three Days shows the repercussions of life in prison for the individual’s family as to where The Shawshank Redemption shows the life inside the walls of a prison. They certainly do contrast as far as quality and substance. The Shawshank Redemption is an Oscar nominated masterpiece as to where The Next Three Days is another kind of piece. Even though they do not share quality they both represent the idea of suffrage through the lives that experience prison, whether it is during the past or during present times. The two films are reminders of how easy all hope can be lost through the horrors of prison.

The Next Three Days

Have you ever feared the day when your wife would be accused of murder and sent to prison for life and you are stuck to raise your only child, well in the film The Next Three Days, John Brennan could not wait. The Next Three Days, a film starring Russell Crow and Elizabeth Banks presents the idea of what if scenario that has all the right elements but never holds a thrilling moment. With Director Paul Haggis you would figure a master story is about to unfold but unfortunately the film falls flat.
The film tries to establish early on that John Brennan, played by Russell Crow, really loves his wife by presenting a dinner scene in the first shot of the film. It tries to show the strong support that Brennan has for his wife despite the small dispute she has while they are having dinner with John Brennan’s brother and his wife. It is somewhat touching and the scene is able to grab your attention, only in the beginning of course.
In order to quickly progress to the plot of the film, immediately after the dinner scene we jump directly into a crime series type as Lara Brennan, played by Elizabeth Banks is arrested and accused of murder. This scene held pretty well due to Russell Crow’s top notch acting and the young Tyler Green who played the three year old version of their son Luke. This scene provides the perfect tension and fear as the baby screams in the back ground really invoking the feeling of loss. This scene is the only scene in the movie that really felt genuine and is sort of hard to watch.
It starts to pick up somewhat as time passes and Lara has been imprisoned for several years, it is at the point in which John, Russell Crow, has lost all hope in his wife’s case in innocents. I enjoyed the way Russell Crow portrayed a regular man trying to infiltrate a dark underworld. It made his character seem believable. The entire breakout sequence felt a little short and underplayed but it was well shot by cinematographer Stephan Fontaine.
All in all I rate the film 2 out of 5 stars due to it’s underplayed on deep and dark subject matter. The only credit worth mentioning is Russell Crow’s performance of John Brennan. I like how he did not play his usual hero self, but instead a confused, frightened but determined husband trying to put his family back together.
I would not suggest this movie but I would like to just say bravo for Russell Crow who has yet to not impress as far as his performances go.