3 Days to Kill: A father, a daughter, shooting and cancer drugs
In 3 Days to Kill, Kevin Costner plays Ethan, a CIA operative who discovers that he has just a couple of months to live. The CIA cuts him loose, and he goes to see his daughter and wife, who have only heard from him once a year for the last decade or so.
It is the performance of Hailee Steinfeld that really shines as the daughter who has been hurt by her father’s absence. If this film had told the story of their relationship and left all the other stuff out, it would have been worth seeing. Steinfeld is the perfect foil for Costner. There are other side characters that provide great performances as well, and it may say something about Costner’s acting that they all seem to shine when they are acting with him. The son (Joakhim Sigue) and dad (Eric Ebouaney) who are part of the African family that is squatting in Ethan’s apartment, Marc Andreoni as Mitat and Bruno Ricci as Guido all provide moments of levity and genuine interaction. Unfortunately, an improbable lack of incompetence on the bad guys’ parts and the all too predictable coincidence that brings about the final confrontation aren’t the worst part of the film. In fact, these might have been forgivable if it weren’t for one casting failure that cannot be forgiven. Apparently, Amber Heard has gone to the Kristen Stewart school of acting, where every actor learns one emotion – dull surprise. Heard is supposed to be the seductive, bad-ass femme fatale; instead, she is just plain bad. She attempts to be sexy, but her moments with Costner are more repulsive than anything. He is far too old for her, and he is clearly not interested. It is not clear exactly whether Heard is interested or not because there is no chemistry between them. It may not be fair to compare Heard with Scarlett Johansson, but Johansson could have played this role so much better. Heard just doesn’t have enough gravitas to pull off cruel, heartless or competence. If you can cut out all of the shooting scenes, this film would be a good story about a father attempting to reconcile with his family. Instead, 3 Days to Kill mucks around with experimental cancer drugs and guns to distract from what the script might otherwise have to say. |
Romney's Review of the not action film 3 Days to Kill
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