I had previously seen only one thing directed by Paul Haggis, Crash. Clearly, he's had trouble keeping up that kind of momentum. He hasn't even written or produced anything released since 2018. But this one looked halfway promising. It's also about to stop streaming on Netflix, so I gave it priority.
In Pittsburgh, Lara (Elizabeth Banks) gets arrested on the charge of murdering her boss, whom she didn't get along with. Few besides husband John (Russell Crowe) believe she even might be innocent, based on evidence and lack thereof. After three years, when it looks like there won't be another appeal, John starts plotting to bust her out, with no willful accomplices. His deadline moves up when she's set to be transferred in, yup, three days....
Only later did I learn that this was a remake of a recent French film, Pour elle. I can kinda detect the foreign flavor under all the Hollywood trappings. American movies seldom get into this particular type of dramatic grit. I even thought there might be an unhappy ending. Hey, Arlington Road did it.
The movie completely skips over the trial, leaving us to imagine the details and maybe get the impression that it was unfairly brief. Nevertheless, we spend plenty of time focusing on the travails of the family before the scheming begins. Lara develops self-destructive behavior. She wishes John would dispense with his optimistic lies and just give up on her like everyone else, partly for finances' sake. Their single-digit son, Luke (Ty Sympkins), gives her the silent treatment during visitation. John shuns his own parents when they imply that Lara did commit murder.
Simply preparing for the prison break is risky enough. John could easily get caught doing relatively minor crimes, and some of the people he deals with are dangerous. He himself may end up doing more damage to innocents than he ever expected. When Luke watches a crime in progress, there's no guarantee the kid will know not to speak up. And Lara's not in on any of this, because John wants her to have as little choice in the matter as possible. (Funny how love works, huh?)
IMDb tells me that the story departs from reality in many ways, so don't take it as a how-to manual. Nevertheless, to my naive mind, it was basically credible at the time. John's luck isn't perfect, but neither is it rotten.
At a time when many people are disenchanted with the justice system, TNTD may carry extra appeal. I felt more sorrow than eventual satisfaction, but it was adequate for an evening's entertainment.
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