What would you do if your wonderful life is suddenly ruined in less than a minute? Would break the law to get it back? These, among others, were the questions John Brennnan (Russell Crowe) asks himself. Going through their everyday normal routine of eating breakfast together and while capturing special moments on camera, comes up short with a bust through the front door. Within the blink of an eye, Detective Quinn (Jason Beghe) and Detective Collero (Aisha Hinds), break into their house to arrest his wife, Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) for the murder of her boss. Three years go by of her twenty year sentence and John can’t get a court appeal to prove his wife’s innocence. An incident happens to his wife in prison, along with some breaking news, that prompts John to devise a plan to break her out of jail. He starts off investigating the outside jail’s visitor routine then seeks assistance from the bad area in town for some illegal documents. John has to go through hurdles to succeed at the impossible. The day has come for the break out; will he be able to do it? Will he get caught and go to jail leaving their son an orphan?
Review: Well, I thought the film was nice; it has a lot of suspense that fills your head with questions throughout the movie. I liked the concept and storyboard because it has the same Adeline rush as anyone else if put in that situation. I did fall asleep a couple times while watching it, so I constantly had to rewind. It wasn’t because I think it is boring-which I don’t-it’s just that the movie took too long with the planning of the escape. The real action doesn’t start until towards the end of the film. One of my favorite lines in the movie was when John, a Community College teacher, said to his class, “A rational thought can destroy a person’s soul.” I thought this one line goes perfect for the movie and a great line to ponder for everyday’s obstacles. I hated some of the acts Laura was doing as an attempt to give up the fight. I understand being overwhelmed but when your husband is literally risking his neck to have you in his and their son’s life, you don’t act foolish and have the escape fail all for nothing. All in all, I would watch this film again with a cup of coffee to stay awake.
This review shocked me, I could not have fallen asleep if I tried during this movie. John Brennnan (Russell Crowe) plays a extraordinary role in this film something I didn’t expect to see from him, but plays it to fullest of his ability.
His love for his wife and child are too unbearable for them to be separated and the time the movie director took to prepare the escape of his wife was almost perfect in my mind, the reason I say this is because of the way i reacted to it. At some moments it seems like he might decide against this whole thing and live a normal life without his wife but then its a dog bit him in the ass and he knew if the justice system failed Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) there was no way he could let her down.
Anyway I think you need to re watch this movie with a coffee if that is what it takes and realize the reason they take time for somethings and do not do the predictable thing that most movies do. Originality is all the ONLY thing that disappointed me in this movie was not seeing liiam Nelson appear for a longer time, cause he plays a mean ANYTHING in any movie and enjoy watching him, other then that top notch in my books. I rate this film 4.5/5 stars Thanks
To Unrau12, first thank you so much for your comment. Second, why would you be surprised by Russell Crowe’s acting in this movie? He’s not an amateur, he’s Russell Crowe, a fantastic actor and you should watch his others films for proof. Next if you want to get technical, I watched this film a couple of times so I know, understand, and appreciate the director’s concepts. This film was good but not great due to the fact of making the detectives look stupid. Laura would never have been in jail if they did more work such as looking for two sets of fingers or anytype of DNA on the fire extinguisher. Also with today’s technology they should have found some of the killer’s fabric or DNA on the coat where the button came off and why did it take so long to search properly for the button? Even with a cup of coffee, I will still stand by my review, the planning takes too long and it drags on until the end where the action starts. Maybe you should re-watch it for a closer look. Three stars.
Personal preference i guess, and you can’t base the movie on its technicalities because then your looking past the point of it. Anyway I won’t drag out an already dragged conversation we have different taste in movies I guess.