The Next Three Days 2010

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Haggis knows that the question isn't only can he do it, but should he? Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Suspenseful if not wholly believable, the main problem with The Next Three Days is it lasts about a half day too long. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: ...watching Haggis simply work the pulses, guts and adrenal glands of the audience is decidedly more pleasant than having him clamber into our laps to appeal to our hearts, minds and souls. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Not much more than a meticulously detailed, very long instructional video. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The story started off as France's Anything for Her, itself an absurd effort. But it's been given a special patina of self-seriousness by Crash's Paul Haggis, who adapted the script and directs. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Haggis deserves props for shattering the myth that all Prius drivers are good. But his movie wears you down while it's whipping you up. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Crowe and Banks actually make "The Next Three Days" work better than it deserves to; its pacing is off, and things don't really get moving until the final, electric half-hour or so. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: While it's a relief to see Haggis not preaching about, say, the evils of racism, he doesn't wholly embrace the genre assignment, which leaves him perpetually a beat or two behind. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Even with an actor of Crowe's skill, it's hard to believe the mild, thoughtful John would take to the mean streets of Pittsburgh for fake IDs, blast his way into drug houses and such. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: A name filmmaker and star trying with all their might to pump a slender genre flick into an Oscar-caliber action-drama -- and failing. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The characters are so vivid that the suspense never lags. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: In its final half-hour, all the stops are pulled. The movie is still wildly implausible but at least it's hurtling forward. Read more

Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News: The Next Three Days wants to be clever. It wants to be taut and suspenseful, tricky and exciting. To be fair, the movie manages to conjure small moments of all those things. But by the end, it's succeeded at none of them. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Despite Crowe's indisputable ability to transform himself and dig deep for every character he plays, we never get a sense of whether crafting this plot weighs on John's conscience. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The movie's real strength ... is generating escalating waves of plot tension and misdirection as John, heeding advice, makes his jail-busting moves. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Although involving, this remake of a recent French film never reaches the anticipated heights of excitement and suspense. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Haggis seems obsessed with making sure we "get it" in every scene. You can almost feel the hammer poised right above your head to pound the point home. Beyond that, the film is too long on exposition in some places, too short in others, never just right. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: This remake of the 2008 French thriller Pour Elle is a half-hour longer, less suspenseful and hobbled by a slacker pace. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The movie is a caper without playfulness or wit -- it's accomplished but not much fun. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: It's laughably, eye-rollingly absurd, so you don't watch it and wonder, "Hey, why not?" You endure it and wonder, "So ... why did they do that?" Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: I didn't buy how "The Next Three Days" plays out -- but I almost bought it, and that's good enough for a thriller. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Next Three Days is genre fare -- no pretensions, no nonsense. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The Next Three Days offers enough suspense to make it worth the price of admission. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie is a competent thriller, but maybe could have been more. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's damn hard to enjoy a thriller when you don't, won't, can't believe a word of it. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Alas, Haggis' commitment to bringing out the truth of the premise turns the "The Next Three Days" into a downbeat film. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's a cool, engrossing thriller; intelligent, packed with shivering suspense, populated with marvelous characters and (unless you've seen the French original, "Pour Elle") impressively unpredictable. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: An okay thriller with lots of smart flourishes, The Next Three Days has us hooked early on but never quite gets us in the boat Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Paul Haggis gets us so engrossed watching the gears slowly mesh in his prison-break drama The Next Three Days, it's disconcerting when the machine finally clanks noisily into action. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: In the third act, both Haggis and his actors kick it into high gear, leading to a breathless chase sequence, the outcome of which is unpredictable to the last moments. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: It swings between being a whodunit and a guns-blazing romp. By film's end, you may not be sure what it is, either. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: What was briskly diverting in the original has been rather laboriously overworked, and the film's attempt to draw out the moral stakes never addresses the material's basic, surface-level implausibility. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: Like his lumpy protagonist, Haggis... too confidently assumes viewers are as quick to abandon sense and logic. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: It plods along dutifully, with the occasional zigzag into contrivance, tidy coincidence and outright preposterousness. Read more