Newspaper Page Text
THE ISLANDER, NOVEMBER 29, 2010, PAGE 13
Around IMunswick and the Golden Isles
“Goin* to
the Show...”
with...
Roland
Willis
will also need IDs, passports,
credit cards so they can get to a
foreign country, such as Yemen,
which has a poor relationship
with the U.S. and from which
they cannot be extricated.
All of this requires tons and
tons of cash which they do not
- THE NEXT THREE DAYS ~
Starring: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam
Neeson, Brian Dennehy and Lennie James
Directed by Paul Haggis
Written by Fred Cavage and Guillaume Lemans
Running Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Rated PG 13 - for violence and profanity
have.
I was about to review the
Denzel Washington thriller,
Unstoppable, about a runaway
train packed with toxic chemi
cals, when I realized that this
would be a little redundant
because what is truly unstop
pable is Harry Potter.
So, being a dedicated review
er, I put myself through 150
minutes of excruciating, puerile,
boring drivel that is the new
Harry Potter film, Harry Pot
ter and the Deathly Hallows:
Part 1.
Yes, that is correct... Part 1
which means there will be other
parts coming along and there is
no way to stop this juggernaut.
So my fail-back position is
the new thriller, The Next Three
Days, which is an American
version of the popular French
movie, Pour Elle (Anything for
Her), in which a young wife
is incarcerated for 20 years
for murder, causing her mild-
mannered husband to dive into
criminal activities in a desper
ate effort to break her out of
jail.
The action is transferred to
Pittsburgh where we meet a
happily married couple, John
(Russell Crowe) and Lara (Eliz
abeth Banks) and their young
son Luke (Ty Simpkins).
The morning after a date
night, the police break into
their home and drag Lara off in
handcuffs. She is accused and
found guilty of murder and, in
spite of appeals, receives a long
sentence.
There world has been abrupt
ly turned upside down.
John knows that the only
way they can get their life back
is to spring Lara out of jail but
his career as a mild-mannered
college professor has hardly pre
pared him for this task.
However, he can research
the subject of prison breaks
and digs up Damon Pennington
(Liam Neeson) who has broken
out of many prisons and has
even written a book about his
deeds.
Pennington tells John that
there is always a weakness in
the system but that breaking
out is the easy part, getting
away is the tough part.
The streets in the city will be
shut down within 15 minutes
and the train stations, airports
and interstates will be closed
within 35 minutes. Elaborate
planning is necessary but they
John’s anxiety is worsened
by his wife’s attempts at sui
cide and he must engineer the
breakout while she is still in
the local county jail and before
she is transferred to the state
penitentiary which will be an
impossible egg to crack.
He identifies the weak link in
the system and puts together an
escape plan.
His own weak links are his
young son and his lack of cash.
The problem with his son
is solved when he meets an
attractive woman, Nicole (Olivia
Wilde), at the playground. Their
kids get on well together and
she fancies him. He trusts her
and knows that should the plan
go badly wrong that she will get
his son to his parents who are
played by Brian Dennehy and
Rachel Deacon.
The bigger problem is the
cash. He sells all their posses
sions but the house sale does
not go through in time. The
largest stash of cash is in the
hands of the local drug dealers
and he must rob the robbers.
The movie loses its credibil
ity at this point as John must
morph from being a mild-man
nered college professor, who
doesn’t own a gun, into a James
Bond like action man who can
fight the hardened criminals on
their turf and win.
The movie starts rather slow
ly and builds to a nail biting
finale.
The action speeds up when
Lt. Nabulsi, wonderfully played
by Lennie James, chances upon
his plans and the chase begins.
The writer/director Paul
Haggis, who has the distinction
of winning back-to-back Oscars
for the screen plays for Million
Dollar Baby and Crash (2004,
2005), and who won the Oscar
for the Best Director of Crash,
does a fine job here of building
the action to an almost unbear
able level.
We have come to expect excel
lent acting from Crowe and he
does not disappoint.
The big surprise is the excel
lent performance by Elizabeth
Banks as the incarcerated pris
oner who is gradually falling
into complete despair as she
sees her future disappearing.
I recommend this movie. My
rating is B. □
iMancl CINEMAS
MOVIES INFO. 634-9100
Sea Island Rd, at Frederica Rd,,
^BURLESQU^P^3^
MON-THURS 4:30, 7:30, 10:15
LOVE AND OTHER
DRUGS (R)
MON-THURS 4:45, 7:35, 10:05
TANGLED (PG)
MON-THURS 4:15, 7:15, 9:40
HARRY POTTER AND
THE DEATHLY HALLOWS:
PART 1 (PG-13)
MON-THURS 3:45, 7:00, 10:15
THE NEXT THREE DAYS
(PG-13)
MON-THURS 4:00, 7:10, 10:10
UNSTOPPABLE (PG-13)
MON-THURS 4:40, 7:40, 9:55
MORNING GLORY (PG-13)
MON-THURS 7:20, 9:50
v
“Holiday Magic &
Mayhem” at the Ritz
Golden Isles Arts and
Humanities Association
(GIAHA) is screening audience
favorites on the first Saturday
of every month at the Ritz The
atre in downtown Brunswick.
December’s offering is a
matinee showing at 3 p.m. of
Miracle on 34th Street the 1947
tale of wonder and belief in a
cynical commercialized world.
At 7 p.m. Tim Burton’s
beautiful, bizarre, and funny
1990 parable about the value of
accepting and celebrating each
other’s differences, Edward
Scissorhands, will air.
Miracle on 34th Street stars
Maureen O’Hara, Best Sup
porting Actor Oscar winner
Edmund Gwenn, and little
Natalie Wood as the girl who
doesn’t believe in miracles,
until an encounter with Kris
Kringle himself changes her
point of view.
Edward Scissorhands was
the first collaboration between
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp,
the beginning of a fascinating
series of offbeat and imagi
native films, that includes
the upcoming Dark Shadows
which features Winona Ryder,
Dianne Weist, and Vincent
Price.
Admission to each movie is
$5 for all ages, payable at the
door the day of the show only.
Box office opens at 10:00 a.m.
□
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Stop by
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TODAY!
1403 Newcastle St. • Brunswick • 912-262-0050
ISLAND ANIMAL
HOSPITAL
Where pets are part of the family
Jan Rossiter, DVM
Jason Arbo, DVM
Brennan McGoldrick, DVM
The IAH healthcare team is committed
to full service companion animal care.
We offer boarding and grooming
for your convenience.
2603 Demere Rd, St. Simons Isl
638-2583 • www.iahvets.com