The Next Three Days (2010)

Film of 2012 #24
Some Spoilers

This Russell Crowe film is a remake of a French film (Anything for her) that I have not seen and centres around the idea that a Woman is jailed for murder and her husband has 3 days to break her out. It explores the concept of a normal man doing extraordinary things in the face of love. I actually really enjoyed this film, while I do not know if a normal and could do what is required of Russell Crowe it is an interesting exploration of the idea, you see him watching YouTube videos on how to make Bump Keys and open car doors and I have no idea if these things would work but it is an interesting angle and also the fact that what he tries back fires and does not work actually, it works really well for the film with the idea that he is not perfect and things do not always work out the way you expect, 

My biggest issue with the film is the title it implies that three days are ultimately important to the film and overall you do not really get an understanding of how much time is passing or passed and it is not really clear how long anything takes for him to do or feel the time pressure. Other than near the end but then it is being measured in minutes not days. I like some of the intelligent touches that the Russel Crowe character throws in there with the bag of rubbish and going to the train station which is very clever.

I do not normally like Russell Crowe as I do not like him in real life but he was actually very good in this and I actually think he is an excellent actor. When someone that you do not like can convince you they are likeable and intelligent and nervous and scared they must have some good acting skills. I recommend this film it is a strong 3 stars, there are flaws and some of his knowledge seems to come from nowhere but overall a very enjoyable film that I would probably watch again.

Home Alone (1990)

This to me is a Christmas classic, inspired by seeing the second one I chose to re-watch the original and have to say that it is still the best. Yes you have to be honest and say that the chances of any family forgetting a family member is highly unlikely and that surely they would notice pretty early on. But they do a good job of setting the Kevin character up well within his rather large family.

This carries the same story as the sequel but is the original, it has all the Christmas values about being alone and the importance of family. It has some awesome comedic moments with the bumbling criminals in Harry and Marv played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern to great effect.

I have to say this is 5 stars for me, yes there are a few realism flaws within the plot but they get where they need to be and the comedy can still make me laugh even after all of these years, make it one of your Christmas movies this year if you have not seen it.

Home Alone 2:Lost in New York (1992)

Saw this on the TV when it was on, in June, now that is funny as this is one of the best Christmas movies of all time, it covers the morals of family, giving and doing good for others. This is another sequel that is very similar to the original it is the same story re-told in a different setting. I have to say that I do like how they manufacture the situation for the film and you always have to give a sequel a gimme and that is it for this film.

The down side to the film is if you think about it to much you can raise so many questions that it will distract from the comedy that this sparkles at. There are a lot of funny things in this, not as good as the original and some of the jokes are repeated but then there are extensions of the jokes from the first including the paint pots. Like any films that are made for kids there is a level of suspension of disbelief to wonder why the crooks played excellently by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci do exactly everything that Macaulay Culkin sets up.

I love the original 2 films in this series and have stayed away form the fact there are a 3 and 4, this film gets 4 stars, it is funny and loses a point as it is a rehash of the original, but well worth a watch especially if you have seen the original and enjoyed it.