The Next Three Days

How often have you watched a movie in 3 installments? I had the good fortune of experiencing this last month over 3 flights of Jet Airways. Actually over 2 months. What started as an excited opportunity to watch Paul Haggis’s (Crash) last movie to be released soon turned out to be an endeavor or an ordeal of sorts. The movie is not available on DVD anywhere (in Mumbai at least) and therefore you have to go through the pains of hoping that the next Jet Airways flight you take has in-flight entertainment and therefore an opportunity to finish off the rest of the movie. My past experiences on the Jet Airways Mumbai Bangalore sector have taught me that it is next to impossible to finish a movie in the flight itself. So I was mentally prepared to split any movie into 2 but the cheapskates these days don’t start in flight till well into the flight and are quite prompt to shut it down a good 15 minutes before landing. And in such cases, the 2nd flight becomes excruciatingly painful because they have shut off the entertainment some 10 minutes before the climax!!!! How cruel is that!!!!

Anyways, Paul Haggis comes back after a hiatus of sorts of about 3 years. His last release was the much nominated “In the Valley of Elah” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron. Haggis continues with the magic that he started with Crash in 2004 (technically his first full length was a movie called Red Hot that released in 1993) – one of the few people to have made a successful transition from the small screen to the silver one. The intensity of The Next Three Days can only be described as Haggisesque. It’s a slow, throbbing kind of feeling that you get in the first few minutes when suddenly something slaps you straight across your face followed by the same throbbing kind of feeling which is extremely slow and keeps you rooted to the screen till eventually the movie climaxes beautifully and sometimes in an expected manner – with a little bit of a twist. Haggis keeps his audiences engaged at all times with narration that is so tight that it could put a 17th Century Corset to shame.

That he has the good fortune of working with the likes of a Russel Crowe who can translate the pain felt by a father of a 6 year old who is immensely in love with his wife but finds himself helpless when his wife is arrested and convicted for murder. I have a new found respect for Elizabeth Banks who I believe is quite under rated as an actress but is genuinely one of the most versatile actresses around today. Fantastic editing and just the right music have always been the hallmark of a Haggis movie and you will continue to see that here as well. Watching it over 3 flights was the only regret that I could have. This one must be seen straight through. Did it release in India last year? No clue to how I could have missed a Haggis movie. 8 on 10 for certain. Get your hands on this one.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2143750425/