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THE NEXT THREE DAYSMovie Reviews
Crime thriller about a man who will employ any means necessary to clear his incarcerated wife of a murder charge. Cast:Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy, Lennie James, Olivia WildeDirector:Paul HaggisRelease Date:November 19, 2010DVD Release:March 8, 2011From:LionsgateRating:PG-13Length:2 hr 2 min
The Next Three Days played to mixed reviews. • David Denby wrote in the New Yorker, "...an accomplished, intelligent, often exciting piece of work, but I can't help wishing that Haggis had figured out how to make it more fun.... it's a caper without play or wit..." • And Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone, "It's damn hard to enjoy a thriller when you don't, won't, can't believe a word of it." More Reviews Below...
The Next Three Days Positive Reviews (47 Reviews, reviews below)
Oliver Jones, People: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "There's a tense little thriller that wants badly to bust out of 'The Next Three Days'... spends too much of its time being a dry, sluggish family melodrama."(See all of Oliver Jones's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 144 words, 11/18/10
Mary Pols, Time: WEAK "...morally bankrupt -- a film that makes you feel as though you've been taken for a smooth ride by the Hollywood machine and dropped somewhere very nasty."(See all of Mary Pols's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 330 words, 11/19/10
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "It's simply too hard to buy Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks as husband and wife.... it undermines our ability to become emotionally immersed..."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 568 words, 11/18/10
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...showcases Crowe's range -- loving father, sexy husband, backstreet brawler -- as a Pittsburgh professor pushed to vigilante extremes."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 93 words, 11/18/10
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: WEAK(cg) "It's damn hard to enjoy a thriller when you don't, won't, can't believe a word of it. Russell Crowe stars as a mild-mannered teacher (huh?)..."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 122 words, 11/12/10
Scott Bowles, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...less than the sum of its parts.... swings between being a whodunit and a guns-blazing romp. By film's end, you may not be sure what it is, either."(See all of Scott Bowles's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 506 words, 11/19/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a competent thriller, but maybe could have been more.... It's sort of slow, because it spells out a lot of details, but it kept me involved."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 759 words, 11/18/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (12 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "Humor is what a movie like this needs if it is to be taken seriously. Otherwise it's not much more than a meticulously detailed, very long instructional video."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 891 words, 11/19/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...the screaming should be directed at Paul Haggis, who both wrote and directed this mess.... He has totaled this one. Yes, 'The Next Three Days' is really that bad."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 784 words, 11/19/10
Kyle Smith, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...some breathless moments, most of them wisely saved up for a richly realized final act.... strikes an arresting balance of the ordinary and the unlikely."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 671 words, 11/19/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a competent thriller, but maybe could have been more.... It's sort of slow, because it spells out a lot of details, but it kept me involved."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 759 words, 11/18/10
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "As a writer-director, Haggis has never been one for nuance or persuasive storytelling... interminably nonsensical.... ridiculous..."(See all of Melissa Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 623 words, 11/17/10
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Haggis's schematic approach to screenwriting becomes more and more annoying... It makes for a clear-cut moral universe, sure... but also for an utterly predictable movie."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 239 words, 11/18/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...genre fare - no pretensions, no nonsense. And if the criminal justice system is broke, heck, what's wrong with breaking some locks, and breaking the law?"(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 549 words, 11/19/10
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...at once too silly to be a serious drama and too serious for us to suspend our disbelief and look forward to seeing Crowe doing damage. If only it were at least fun..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 683 words, 11/19/10
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: VERY GOOD(cg) "...thoroughly engrossing... writer/director Haggis foreshadows, hides details, delays his 'reveals' and does a pretty good job of keeping us guessing..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 555 words, 11/19/10
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...intelligent, packed with shivering suspense, populated with marvelous characters and (unless you've seen the French original, 'Pour Elle') impressively unpredictable."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 606 words, 11/19/10
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: MODERATE(cg) "There are some things to admire... But there are things to dislike, as well... the usually solid Haggis ('In the Valley of Elah,' 'Crash') and Crowe don't show us enough..."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 564 words, 11/19/10
Tom Maurstad, Dallas Morning News: WEAK(cg) "...too long and full of the kind of ludicrous coincidences and preposterous moments that will have you laughing when you're supposed to be tearing up or gasping in shock."(See all of Tom Maurstad's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 11/19/10
Stephen Whitty, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a straightforward little thriller, directed by Paul Haggis with an eye toward interesting supporting characters and fresh urban locations."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 432 words, 11/19/10
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Crowe and Banks actually make the film 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."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 485 words, 11/19/10
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a compelling look at the potentially fine line between grief and delusion, a solidly acted drama that dares not to offer up easy answers to difficult questions."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 233 words, 11/19/10
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: FAIR(cg) "...pays less attention than usual to character development, allowing everyone a single trait: grimly determined for John, grimly neurotic for Lara..."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 461 words, 11/18/10
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Writer/director Paul Haggis hunkers down to craft a pressure cooker of a thriller. If only he had kicked the heat up a few notches."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 666 words, 11/19/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (9 Reviews)
Melissa Anderson, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "As a writer-director, Haggis has never been one for nuance or persuasive storytelling... interminably nonsensical.... ridiculous..."(See all of Melissa Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 623 words, 11/17/10
Josh Tyler, Cinema Blend: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a far more emotional and intimate connection than any other heist movie you've seen before.... makes an otherwise implausible premise feel utterly plausible."(See all of Josh Tyler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 656 words, 11/19/10
Nick Schager, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...refuses to puff up its action with message-movie sermonizing.... a high-gloss prison-break movie in reverse, one that every so often raises a thorny moral dilemma..."(See all of Nick Schager's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 659 words, 11/12/10
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Haggis's schematic approach to screenwriting becomes more and more annoying... It makes for a clear-cut moral universe, sure... but also for an utterly predictable movie."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 239 words, 11/18/10
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: EXCELLENT(cg) "...so thoroughly enthralling that it scooped me up into its world and made me so much a part of it that I forgot I was sitting in a screening room watching a movie."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 726 words, 11/18/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (5 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: WEAK "...depends on intricate contrivances that you either accept and enjoy or, in my case, instinctively reject. 'The Next Three Days' asks its audience to accept a lot."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 357 words, 11/19/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "Humor is what a movie like this needs if it is to be taken seriously. Otherwise it's not much more than a meticulously detailed, very long instructional video."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 891 words, 11/19/10
David Denby, New Yorker: GOOD "...an accomplished, intelligent, often exciting piece of work, but I can't help wishing that Haggis had figured out how to make it more fun.... it's a caper without play or wit..."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 830 words, 11/15/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...the screaming should be directed at Paul Haggis, who both wrote and directed this mess.... He has totaled this one. Yes, 'The Next Three Days' is really that bad."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 784 words, 11/19/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...the screaming should be directed at Paul Haggis, who both wrote and directed this mess.... He has totaled this one. Yes, 'The Next Three Days' is really that bad."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 784 words, 11/19/10
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: MODERATE(cg) "...not the right material for Paul Haggis, for it displays his major shortcomings as a filmmaker.... Crow gives a decently compelling (though not great) performance..."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 669 words, 11/17/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: FAIR "Humor is what a movie like this needs if it is to be taken seriously. Otherwise it's not much more than a meticulously detailed, very long instructional video."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 891 words, 11/19/10
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: WEAK "...depends on intricate contrivances that you either accept and enjoy or, in my case, instinctively reject. 'The Next Three Days' asks its audience to accept a lot."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 357 words, 11/19/10
19.7 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Next Three Days's reviews are separated by an average 19.7 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Next Three Days (47 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Next Three Days's reviews cover 93.1% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 25,676 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 546 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Next Three Days Coverage, Volume & Length (47 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 25.4 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Next Three Days's reviews on average broke 25.4 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Next Three Days's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Next Three Days (47 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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