When it comes to thrilling action movies, this one really had it all for me. It is VERY suspenseful, and maintains a good pace throughout. And not only is it thrilling, but it also gave me lots to think about long after the credits rolled.
Russell Crowe plays John, a man whose wife is convicted of murder. He is convinced that she is innocent and becomes determined to break her out of jail. This creates a lot of suspenseful situations as soon as he starts to prepare. It got me thinking about a lot of things, including the moral dilemmas John faces.
There is a great Liam Neeson cameo where he gives John advice, since he has escaped from prison several times before. He warns John of the intense hurdles and sacrifices he will have to make, so I very quickly realized that the stakes and risk are very high if he goes through with it.
The fact that I don't know if the wife is actually innocent or not, adds another layer of depth to the story. I was left trying to decide if John is making the right choice to break her out, which forced me to try and decide if she actually did it. Being so unsure how to feel, it really drew me in, and got me paying attention to every little detail in the movie. Haggis is great at throwing in little clues and nuances in the performances that made me question and re-think things.
John is obviously a good guy, so I was rooting for him to succeed, but it is hard to know how to really feel about his character. Russell Crowe is great at playing characters that seem slightly insane, and it's hard to decide just how crazy he really is. They have a son, around 10 years old, and this makes his decisions all the more important. He is risking leaving this kid with both parents in jail if he screws up, but it will also re-unite the kid with his mother, who may be innocent.
Overall, it is a very clever movie that is well crafted. The biggest strong point for me is really the script. It's a smart script that is well thought through. I can tell that Haggis understands what the viewer will be thinking and feeling during the experience and he times things perfectly to make for a fun, exciting, and thoughtful experience.
Beside the writing, the acting was also very good. Russell Crowe brought a lot of depth to the character. The only criticism I have is that it is somewhat hard to believe that he would actually do this. He seems like a little bit too soft and reserved of a character to do these things, but in a way, that adds to the suspense because it makes us more unsure if he will pull it off. Elizabeth Banks is pretty good as the wife. I'm a little unsure how to feel about her performance. My main problem with her is that I didn't really like her character very much, she comes across as a bitch. I understand why that needs to be an element of her performance, but I would have liked to learn a little more about her positive traits to understand why John loves her so much. I think a few tweaks to her character development and a little more edge to John's character, could have increased how believable the story is.
The only other criticism I can think of, is that Haggis clearly is a great writer who understands the story and did a fabulous job directing the actors and their actions, but there is not a lot of creativity or style in the way things were filmed. The camera work and cinematography was mostly pretty straight forward, and I would have liked to see a little more creativity in that department. Maybe some extreme close-ups, or interesting angles and framing. I would have liked to see Haggis hire a cinematographer that brought a little more to the table to make this movie a great visual experience in addition to being a great emotional experience.
If you like intense movies that keep you on your toes and give you lots to think about, don't miss this one!
Russell Crowe plays John, a man whose wife is convicted of murder. He is convinced that she is innocent and becomes determined to break her out of jail. This creates a lot of suspenseful situations as soon as he starts to prepare. It got me thinking about a lot of things, including the moral dilemmas John faces.
There is a great Liam Neeson cameo where he gives John advice, since he has escaped from prison several times before. He warns John of the intense hurdles and sacrifices he will have to make, so I very quickly realized that the stakes and risk are very high if he goes through with it.
The fact that I don't know if the wife is actually innocent or not, adds another layer of depth to the story. I was left trying to decide if John is making the right choice to break her out, which forced me to try and decide if she actually did it. Being so unsure how to feel, it really drew me in, and got me paying attention to every little detail in the movie. Haggis is great at throwing in little clues and nuances in the performances that made me question and re-think things.
John is obviously a good guy, so I was rooting for him to succeed, but it is hard to know how to really feel about his character. Russell Crowe is great at playing characters that seem slightly insane, and it's hard to decide just how crazy he really is. They have a son, around 10 years old, and this makes his decisions all the more important. He is risking leaving this kid with both parents in jail if he screws up, but it will also re-unite the kid with his mother, who may be innocent.
Overall, it is a very clever movie that is well crafted. The biggest strong point for me is really the script. It's a smart script that is well thought through. I can tell that Haggis understands what the viewer will be thinking and feeling during the experience and he times things perfectly to make for a fun, exciting, and thoughtful experience.
Beside the writing, the acting was also very good. Russell Crowe brought a lot of depth to the character. The only criticism I have is that it is somewhat hard to believe that he would actually do this. He seems like a little bit too soft and reserved of a character to do these things, but in a way, that adds to the suspense because it makes us more unsure if he will pull it off. Elizabeth Banks is pretty good as the wife. I'm a little unsure how to feel about her performance. My main problem with her is that I didn't really like her character very much, she comes across as a bitch. I understand why that needs to be an element of her performance, but I would have liked to learn a little more about her positive traits to understand why John loves her so much. I think a few tweaks to her character development and a little more edge to John's character, could have increased how believable the story is.
The only other criticism I can think of, is that Haggis clearly is a great writer who understands the story and did a fabulous job directing the actors and their actions, but there is not a lot of creativity or style in the way things were filmed. The camera work and cinematography was mostly pretty straight forward, and I would have liked to see a little more creativity in that department. Maybe some extreme close-ups, or interesting angles and framing. I would have liked to see Haggis hire a cinematographer that brought a little more to the table to make this movie a great visual experience in addition to being a great emotional experience.
If you like intense movies that keep you on your toes and give you lots to think about, don't miss this one!