Review of The Next Three Days (2010) by Leslie H — 29 Nov 2011

Here's the thing: I really want to like this movie. Give this story a 4 - 6 episode arc, and I think you may have a fantastic piece of storytelling. I think if it had some time to do what something like Homeland does -- showing us the nuances of the characters and exploring the moral gray areas of the plot -- it would be incredibly compelling and moving.

The problem is, the most interesting parts of this film don't make it to the film. We spend time with characters we don't get a chance to know, and we fail to really engage in the more interesting aspects of the characters--particularly some of the supporting characters.

There's no antagonist, just a goal -- a goal that it takes us awhile to establish, and for the better part of this film the protagonist is "perfect", which leaves it nearly without any conflict for at least half of the movie.

When John does change, he still somehow remains "perfect" and the lack of ambiguity and conflict hurts the sense of story arc. Because it's character driven, but we don't really get to know the characters, it falls into the cracks between character drama and action movie -- neither achieving one or the other.

It's worth watching, I think, because the cast is brilliant, if underused, the dialogue is smart and there are seeds of something really enjoyable in there.