History Film / TheNextThreeDays

* DynamicCharacter: In the beginning we see John as a mild-mannered and caring professor and family man. As the movie goes on he becomes a steely-eyed [[TheStrategist strategist]], accumulating all the skills and the cold mentality to pull off a jailbreak.
-->'''Damon Pennington''': But before you do anything, you have to ask yourself if you can do it. Can you forget about ever seeing your parents again? Can you kill a guard? Leave your kid at a gas station? Push some nice old lady to the ground just because she gets between you and the door? Because to do this thing, that's who you have to become.

* BittersweetEnding: John, Lara and their son manage to escape and get to Venezuela, but they will remain fugitives (and thus unable to contact anybody they hold dear) for a long time to come, if not the rest of their lives. Besides this, the only piece of evidence that could possibly absolve Lara is not seen by the policemen when they look at the crime scene again, and most likely disappears down a drain soon afterwards... [[RayOfHopeEnding although one of the detectives seems to be considering checking the drain one last time before the scene cuts]].

* UnwittingPawn: In order to get through a police roadblock specifically looking for a man, woman, and one child, [[spoilers:John offers to give a ride to an elderly couple that are waiting for a bus at a steep discount.]] They have no idea that they are actually being used as cover to help two fugitives escape and think he is just being generous.

* RedHerring: John [[spoiler:leaves behind a trash bag full of plans that point to Haiti as their escape. They're actually headed to Venezuela.]] Also lampshaded by one of the detectives, [[spoilers:who asks the lead detective why they found only this trash, and nothing else.]]

* FailedASpotCheck: John plans everything with such incredibly intricate detail that it is [[spoiler:quite a surprise to find out he somehow didn't know the birthday party he drops his son at off included a trip to the zoo.]]

* AssholeVictim: Desperate for cash, John eventually decides to rob a [[spoiler: meth lab. A drug lord and a dealer are killed as a result.]]

* ClearTheirName: AvertedTrope: The story makes clear nobody believes Lara is innocent and the only piece of evidence that ''may'' put give her case reasonable double is never found (arguably, no effort was ever made to try and find it, at least not until the last few minutes of the film), so John decides to get her out of prison.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Elizabeth Banks goes from sleek platinum blonde to rusty, wavy brown after three years in prison.

* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler: Nicole looks like a potential love interest for John, but it doesn't amount to anything]].

* DrivenToSuicide: Lara, when her character learns no one believes her story about bumping into the murderous junkie and she's never leaving prison [[spoiler: and again when her husband makes the decision to leave their son behind. In both cases her attempts fail]].

* AssholeVictim: Desperate for cash, John eventually decides to rob a [[spoiler: meth lab. A drug lord and a dealer is dead as a result.]]

* BittersweetEnding: John, Lara and their son manage to escape and go to Colombia, but they will remain fugitives of U.S. justice (and thus unable to contact anybody they hold dear) for a long time to come, if not the rest of their lives. As well, the only piece of evidence that could probably absolve Lara is not seen by the policemen when they look at the crime scene again and is about to go down the drain... [[RayOfHopeEnding although one of the detectives seems that will recheck the drain one more time before the scene cuts]].
* ClearTheirName: AvertedTrope: The story makes clear nobody believes Lara is innocent and the only piece of evidence that ''may'' put reasonable double is never found (it's not even ''tried to be found'' until the last few minutes of the film), so John decides to get her out of prison.

* DrivenToSuicide: Banks, when her character learns no one believes her story about bumping into the murderous junkie and she's never leaving prison [[spoiler: and again when her husband makes the decision to leave their son behind. In both cases her attempts fail]].

2010 film directed by Paul Haggis (''Film/{{Crash}}'') and starring RussellCrowe and Elizabeth Banks.

* DrivenToSuicide: Banks, when her character learns no one believes her story about bumping into the murderous junkie and she's never leaving prison [[spoiler: and again when her husband makes the decision to leave their son behind]].

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: John decides to shoot up a meth lab for the money.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: Banks, when her character learns no one believes her story about bumping into the murderous junkie and she's never leaving prison [[spoiler: and again when her husband makes the decision to leave their son behind]].

* VomitIndiscretionShot: When John [[spoiler: almost gets caught with the "bump key" and is spotted by the investigator]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to the junkie?

* OneSceneWonder: Liam Neeson as writer Damon Pennington.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Paul Haggis said the parts where John looks up prison break info on the internet was inspired by his own web searches when he decided to leave the ChurchOfHappyology (you know what I mean); it also seemed to have informed his casting of fellow ex-"Happyologist" Jason Beghe.
* [[WrongfulAccusationInsurance Wrongful Accusation Insurance: The Movie]]
** Actually, no. Rather than try to prove her innocence, they just try to leave the country. John is also aware that if he is caught, he will go to prison as well.

* DrivenToSuicide: Banks, when her character learns no one believes her story about bumping into the murderous junkie and she's never leaving prison [[spoiler: and again when she gets overwhelmed by the great escape]].

* DynamicCharacter: In the beginning we see John as a mild-mannered and caring professor and family man. As the movie goes on he accumulates all the skills and the cold mentality to pull off a jailbreak.