The Next Three Days (2010)

SUMMARY (from IMDB): Lara Brennan is arrested for murdering her boss whom she had an argument with. It seems she was seen leaving the scene of the crime and her fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Her husband, John would spend the next few years trying to get her released but there's no evidence that negates the evidence against her. And when the strain of being separated from her family especially her son gets to her, John decides to break her out. So he does a lot of research to find a way.

DIRECTOR: Paul Haggis; CAST: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks,...

MY OPINION:

What superficially appears to be another man-in-action film, it is actually a genuine story about people facing difficult times both as a family and as individuals. The film has there focuses.

Firstly, it is about to what extent we believe in the people we love and what would we be willing to do for them.

Secondly, it is about the kind of reality we choose to live in. Do we just accept the most common reality, the reality other people thinks it “the right one”? Or do we dare to change the reality we dislike into what we want it to be? Also, is what we see and other people see more or less real of what we want to believe in our head?  Although the film only hints at this complex issue, it certainly makes you think about it.

Finally, the film expresses a criticism of judicial system. Objectivity is necessary for the law to function. But what if all the “objective” evidence does not correspond to the truth? The Next Three Days is a film about coincidences ruining someone’s life. Everyone, just as Lara Brennan, can be convicted on circumstantial evidence if it cannot be proven false. The presumption of innocence may not always work.

Overall, the film is a bit slow at times, but it gives a lot of food for thought.