The Next Three Days (Paul Haggis, 2010)

A fairly pointless remake of the French thriller Pour Elle, which adds some TV movie domestic drama and some more unfeasibilities for bulk, like a pumped-up cruiserweight. Russell Crowe looks hangdog and jowlier than ever as he mopes about from year to year in his attempt to get his wife off a murder charge, until all that's left is springing her from prison. It does nevertheless hold the attention long enough, through Crowe's planning and plotting, to raise hopes of an unconventional denouement. Then it dismayingly starts dismantling them, lurching from one improbability to another, and there has to be a serious doubt as to whether Haggis as director rather than writer will ever raise his game above the diverting but pedestrian.

5/10