The Next Three Days

[Doris]

Totally agree with you prettxcool, super film and Watford was packed solid.

[Diane65]

Agree with the above 2 posts absolutely brilliant, even OH loved it which is rare.
9/10 only about half full at The Lowry, Salford.

[soonforgotten]

Saw this at the Islington Vue. Fantastic film. Was totally gripped and had no idea how it was gonna play out. My one small issue is the scene with the cops and the button. I could have done without that and would have preferred things to be a bit more ambiguous. That aside, highly recommended. A great showing from Russell Crowe and very well crafted.

9/10

[zoerobertson]

Just got back from Croydon Grants. Only 6 people in the cinema. They obviously check the weather forecast as there were few trains and no buses running after we came out! Thought the film was gripping and as usual some great acting by Russell Crowe. Was worth the anxious journey home.

[ejwrank]

I saw this at Islington Vue and also saw the original French film "Pour Elle" -- Anything for Her so I knew the story. Must say I liked this better than the original and thought it was exciting but a bit long (or was that just me?) and I thought that scene with the cops and the button was ridiculous.

Islington Vue was pretty full and I had someone sitting next to me who actually told someone to "Be quiet" as they were making a lot of noise with their bags of food. She was not shy in telling him to shut up!

Mark Kermode (film reviewer) says the only snacks allowed in the cinema should be marshmallows in a pillowcase as that is the only thing that could be eaten totally silently!

[Doris]

I saw this at Islington Vue and also saw the original French film "Pour Elle" -- Anything for Her so I knew the story. Must say I liked this better than the original and thought it was exciting but a bit long (or was that just me?) and I thought that scene with the cops and the button was ridiculous.

Islington Vue was pretty full and I had someone sitting next to me who actually told someone to "Be quiet" as they were making a lot of noise with their bags of food. She was not shy in telling him to shut up!

Mark Kermode (film reviewer) says the only snacks allowed in the cinema should be marshmallows in a pillowcase as that is the only thing that could be eaten totally silently!

Have to agree with Mark Kermode, the person behind us was making such a racket with their huge bag of popcorn. I turned round about 3 times, but the final time, well shall I say 'if looks could kill ?' The person got the hint, but not before really screwing the huge bag and then seemed like they threw it onto the floor! If anyone reading this was at Watford tonight and it was you, please, in future, be considerate towards others !

[prettyxcool]

Mark Kermode (film reviewer) says the only snacks allowed in the cinema should be marshmallows in a pillowcase as that is the only thing that could be eaten totally silently!

and I thought that scene with the cops and the button was ridiculous.

I actually thought it was a nice touch. Had us thinking how one missing evidence can make so much difference. My friend is doing jury service at the moment!

[ejwrank]

I see your point prettyxcool about vital missing evidence but it was 3 years later and the idea that that button would be found and prove someone's innocence struck me as something that only happens in CSI or similar!

[kevinknapman]

Very disappointing. I saw the original last week which probably didn't help.
The original was a fairly taut economical thriller with a few credibility issues. The Next Three Days is a drawn out bloated film with even more credibility issues. What's even more irritating is that director/writer Paul Haggis clearly looked at the original and it's flaws and thought 'I can fix that'. Sadly he's only just made it worse. The woman on the park bench in the original was a minor character used to show that the central character could move on if he wanted to but he's so much in love with his wife that he's not interested. Here they decide to make her a major character who plays an important role towards the end. What the original conveyed very well in two scenes, this film needlessly drags out. Haggis typically hammering us over the head with something we understood straight away. There is much more of this kind of overegging throughout the film. But then what do you expect from someone responsible for the heavy-handed 'Crash'.
The ending too was ridiculously drawn out (dealt with in the original in about 10 minutes, over 30 mins here). Including the already mentioned and completely unnecessary scene involving the cops and a vital piece of evidence. Another example of Haggis the screenwriter's need to explain everything.
I was also pretty disappointed with Russell Crowe. I've always felt that Crowe gets a hard time from the critics and have liked him in quite a few things but I thought he was pretty weak here. Elizabeth Banks wasn't much better to be honest. The biggest crime however was the decision to cast Brian Dennehy (one of Hollywood's finest character actors) and give him absolutely nothing to do. I saw this with my sister and we both came out and said the same thing, he was completely wasted. He still manages to outact Crowe with the very little he does do though. Both Liam Neeson and Daniel Stern are wasted too. Still it was nice to see Daniel Stern again, he doesn't get as many high profile roles as he should.
I wish I had enjoyed this as much as others seemed to. I was looking forward to seeing it. For an hour at least, The Next Three Days is a moderately intriguing and watchable thriller but one that long outstays it's welcome.
I came out thinking that inside this bloated film there's a nice taut thriller trying to get out. And indeed, it already exists. It's called Anything For Her. Watch that instead.

[yogi]

This did little for me.

I'd heard of the original, but haven't seen it, it seemed an interesting idea -[spoiler]a regular guy pushed into the underworld and a plausible prison break, but once this was hollywoodised with a big star then there was zero tension for me. They were always going to escape, surely with a more leftfield lead a Jeff Daniels or Greg Kinnear or an unknown actor would have made it more thrilling and amibigious[/spoiler]
Still tempted to seek out the original, does it benefit from having less well known leads and being less Hollywood?