The Next Three Days
2010
***
Director: Paul Haggis
Cast: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson, Lenny James, Ty Simpkins, Helen Carey
This remake of a 2008 French film Pour Elle (Anything for Her) is a conventional thriller about a mild-mannered schoolteacher who is forced to transform into an action hero. When his wife is jailed for murder, he decides to bust her out, but is he willing to also lose his son if the plan fails? And what if she's guilty? The film raises some interesting questions, but there's never really any doubt how the story is going to end. The unnecessary coda also removes any ambiguity regarding the wife's guilt.
