MOVIE REVIEW - The Next Three Days

The new action-thriller, The Next Three Days is new this week.

Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks star in this escape from prison movie, that has people talking, especially those who are looking for something besides Harry Potter at the movies this week. The interesting thing here is, this movie even with Harry as it's competition, will cut through and be a hit.

This is the story of a young couple with a young son. The wife (Banks) is convicted of murdering her boss, and is sent to prison for life. Her husband, (Crowe) has exhausted all legal means to get her a new trial, so he decides to take matters in his own hands and spring her out of jail. He designs a plan with the help of a former con turned author (Liam Neeson). He teaches him the basics, and then it's all put into motion. Will he succeed? That's TNTD.

This is a pretty good movie. And even though it drags its feet for some of it, the story is for the most part strong enough to pull it though. This movie is a bit belabored, and some scenes are entirely too long. Also, you must be patient. It takes is own sweet time getting to the parts you really want to see. But Crowe is always solid, and he delivers in this really big role.

If you've seen the trailer for this movie and are excited about seeing Liam Neeson and Crowe together, think again. This is the movies major flaw. The commercials show you the ONLY scene where Neeson is in the movie. Five minutes at the beginning. A seemingly great character, for five short minutes. So in essence, Neeson is NOT in this movie. False advertising.

But this is action based, and it delivers that extremely well. A nice supporting cast, with a beautiful backdrop of Pittsburgh and surrounding area. At times this can be a bit convenient and bit fat-fetched, but if you are willing to overlook a blemish or two, this is a good night at the movies.

The Next Three Days. Not great, and not perfect, but good enough to invest an evening into.