72 hours - The next three days

Paul Haggis is one of the most respected writers Hollywood currently has to offer. And also for his directorial works "L.A. Crash" and "In the Valley of Elah" he was able to collect a lot of praise and also some awards. All the more surprising, then, that for his latest film, "72 Hours - The next three days", Haggis has ventured not on an idea of his own, but on a remake of a French thriller.

For English professor John Brennan (Russell Crowe), a world comes crashing down when his wife is accused of murdering her boss and sentenced to decades in prison. Although all the evidence is against Lara (Elizabeth Banks), John firmly believes in his wife's innocence. The thought that the son they share should go on living without his mother and he without his beloved wife gives him a dangerous idea: he wants to accomplish what the lawyers failed to do - get his wife out of prison. By force of arms, if necessary. And so John devises the perfect escape plan. But when Lara is to be transferred to another prison, the desperate husband and father has only 72 hours left to put the plan into action...

"72 hours - The next three days" is carried almost entirely by its very good leading actor Russell Crowe. Because secondary characters are given little attention here, even if they are quite well cast with Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy or Olivia Wilde ("TRON: Legacy"). The script, written by Haggis himself, focuses almost exclusively on John, the planning and execution of his rescue mission, and what drives him. Thanks to Russell Crowe's strong performance, this isn't really a problem for the film. But with less thriller and more character drama on offer here, the whole thing, at a running time of over two hours, threatens to tire the viewer a little in the long run.

Haggis could well have relied a little more on the strength of his supporting characters. A little more screen presence from Liam Neeson and Brian Dennehy certainly wouldn't have hurt the work. However, even as a character-driven one-man show, the thriller still manages to impress with some very strong moments. John's rather clumsy but iron-willed attempts to acquire a gun or the way he always tries to build up his wife, who is giving herself up more and more, are without question among the film's strongest moments.

Even though "72 hours - The next three days" is only a remake, Paul Haggis has succeeded very well in putting his own stamp on the material and shifting the emphasis of the content a bit on the character of John. Those expecting a fast-paced thriller based on the trailer will probably be disappointed. However, if you want to see an exciting story that is carried by a well-developed character, you shouldn't miss this one. Worth Seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp