Por Ella

With his wife(17 years younger, hotter and less brooding) stuck in jail facing 20 years for a murder she clearly did not commit(and all the evidence against her is circumstantial... do French police suck this hard? In general, they are painted in a rather negative light in this, quite unnecessarily), Julien(the swimming teacher from Welcome) seeks to free her so that they can be reunited and spend the rest of their lives together, and with their son(who, other than badly needing to wear a cowbell, doesn't contribute much to this other than being "cute" and a single running theme overly easily solved... and it's not the only thing this sets up that doesn't lead to anything). High hopes aside, he's only a schoolteacher... could he really pull it off? The gradual pace leaves this feeling longer than the 96 minute running time, though it is quite tense and fairly gripping. You care about these people, and you definitely *feel* the impact of every blow dealt. The exciting third act has you so consistently on the edge of your seat, you're liable to fall off. Throughout, this is filmed and edited well. All of the performances are excellent... including the six-year-old(no, really). Part of the way, this is realistic, and it certainly does surprise you. The writing is mostly solid. There is a little brutal, bloody violence in this. I recommend it to fans of crime-thrillers. 7/10

So, what would YOU do if your spouse is convicted on a murder charge and sentenced to 20 years in jail? The film explores to what lengths someone might go, and it takes the viewer on a journey that is anything but expected. And it does it in convincing style and fashion and has you glued to your seat from beginning to end.

OK, Julien enters a world that makes him do things that we should by rights not find acceptable. And yet, one can do nothing but root for him to succeed, regardless of his methods.

I absolutely loved the power and speed of this film. It's action-packed, but also has a lot of depth.

A superb thriller throughout!

TOUT POUR ELLE (Anything for Her) was the original story and film from which THE NEXT THREE DAYS was adapted. In many ways this film is at least as strong as the Paul Haggis version with Russell Crowe. Here the credits are due to the imagination of writers Fred Cavayé and Guillaume Lemans and directed by Fred Cavayé. It is a very fine character driven thriller that while it may appear incredible to most, it is nonetheless an involving story of a man's love and commitment to his wife.

Julien (an impressive Vincent Lindon) is a schoolteacher who has a happy home life with his beautiful wife Lisa (Diane Kruger) and son Oscar (Lancelot Roch). During a quiet evening at home they are disturbed by policemen who arrest Lisa for a murder she claims she did not commit. Jump three years and Julien has been working with lawyers, spending their paltry savings, on getting appeals to get Lisa released from jail. He gets moral support from his parents (Liliane Rovère and Olivier Perrier) but sees his family falling apart. After three years have passed and when all legal portals fail, Lisa attempts suicide and Julien decides the only way to get Lisa out of prison is to aid in her escape. He visits writer Henri Pasquet (Olivier Marchal) who has escaped from prison several times and outlines the dangers AND the only secure methods for affecting a prison escape. John slowly and methodically prepares for the escape, gaining money by contacting drug lord Mouss (Alaa Safi), commits some crimes of his own as he masterminds his plan to successfully extract Lisa from prison. There are many twists and turns to the story, well written subplots and unexpected coincidences, all populated with a very strong cast of capable actors. It is a tense little French film that may not have the better known cast of its later American successor, but it works on a very different level and is a solid psychological thriller.

Grady Harp

The family man and school teacher Julien Auclert (Vincent Lindon) has his life turned upside down when his beloved wife Lisa (Diane Kruger) is arrested, accused for murdering her boss, and sent to the prison. Along three years, Julien raises their son Oscar (Lancelot Roch) alone and appeals to the court; however, the evidences against Lisa are solid – the motive, since she had and argument with her boss; her fingerprints in the murder weapon, a fire extinguisher; blood stain in her coat; and a witness that saw her leaving the parking lot - and her lawyer exhausts all the possible resources in justice. Julien believes in the innocence of his wife and interviews Henri Pasquet (Olivier Marchal), a former escapee from prison, to learn how to plan a prison break. Then he plots a scheme to release Lisaa and travel abroad with Oscar and her. However, he needs documents for the family; an escape plan; and lots of money. When Julien is informed that Lisa will be transferred to another prison within the next three days, he needs to raise a large amount and anticipate his strategy before the transference.

"Pour Elle" is another great French thriller, with an engaging and dramatic story. Vincent Lindon has an awesome performance in the role of a man that risks his stable life to rescue his wife, who was wrongly accused of murder, from prison.

A couple of days ago (02 April 2011), my wife and I saw the American popcorn movie "The Next Three Days" and in that occasion I wrote in IMDb "a good thriller that could have been excellent with minor modifications in the screenplay". I have glanced the review of another IMDb User informing that the American movie is a remake of "Pour Elle" and I have just watched it. It is amazing the lack of creation of this former successful American industry that insists in the remake of great films.

"Pour Elle" is realistic, without the exaggeration of "The Next Three Days" and for me better and better. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Tudo por Ela" ("Everything for Her")

Anything for Her is a French film caught between the two things we've come to expect from French film-makers and their cinematic form from recent years. The film is one part harrowing tale of supposed injustice, complete with character study in the form of a desperate male on a mission which blurs the lines between right and wrong; while it's additionally one part relentless thriller, a film that thrives on its seemingly endless passage of scenes that put the lead through a harrowing grinder of dedication to a cause, but will not be ashamed to include the odd action set piece or fight scene. The film calls to mind recent French films Irréversible and The Beat That my Heart Skipped in its attention to the study of the male putting themselves through Hell for sake of family members-come-loved ones; but Anything for Her carries a fast, loose aesthetic which additionally calls to mind something like Distrcit 13, or any other recently produced Luc Besson feature, thus placing it tantalisingly on the line between these two 'types'.

In fact the film provides that somewhat amusing; B-movie inspired; typically self-aware sensibility going into it. The cover for the film is a gruff looking and gun-wielding individual named Julien (Lindon) standing along side his wife Lisa (Kruger), complete with the tag-line (cue cheesy American voice-over trailer voice) "How far would you go for the one you loved?" slapped to the side of it all. The film does not hang around with an extended point of attack, and it isn't long before the premise of trying to get one's wife out of prison by whichever way possible is kick-started into action. Overall, I think the film wants us to enjoy Julien's striving to rescue his beloved wife from the system which has imprisoned her after society put her in; enjoy it more-so than feel absolutely terrible and really humbled alá the aforementioned examples as this man is put through some pretty harsh paces. If this sensation does wash over us at whatever point during the film, it might be because the couple have a young son whom the film, through the editing, often breaks off to encompass – just to make sure we're definitely on this guy's side.

Criticisms aside, I bought into it by the end. There can be no doubt that most will get their kicks out of the film by way of the rock 'em-sock'em approach it has, but the film was more of a character piece than I expected it to be, with Julien being transformed from a seemingly upstanding family man whom teaches at his local school. Indeed, the recognition Julien is deservedly given towards the end in regards to his shift is duly delivered when, in an ironic manner, certain individuals stare at some of his plans from earlier and exclaim that he was 'just an average guy' before being forced to come to terms with what has transpired.

The film sees police barge into the family's home and arrest wife Lisa, rather horrifically whilst she's discovering blood on her clothes in the bathroom. The police's grounds for arrest is based on a murder Lisa supposedly committed, that she argued with her boss; waited for them to travel to a car park; bludgeoned them to death with a fire extinguisher (what is is with the French and fire extinguishers as murder weapons in films?) before casually driving off home. Later on, we get a 'true' depiction of what happened when Lisa flashes back to the events in which it turns out someone else did what was pinned on her. Regardless, we're told she's innocent rather than going through the motions of finding out that she actually is – the film is not of the detective variety, but of the jailbreak variety.

Julien begins his transformation when it appears Lisa's mental condition is worsening in prison, and thus begins to reject her insulin dosages in an attempt to take one's life. With a child a few years older than what he was when Lisa was taken and desperation settling in when it emerges he may loose Lisa a second time, Julien springs into action. As a boxer boxing above his weight; as an individual completely out of his depth and as a fish nowhere near any water, he is an initial failure at his attempts to do what's right. By seeing him ambushed and beaten by two people he attempts to obtain fake passports from, the crashing reality that the road is long, and hard, hits home. But he climbs his way back up, by way of ambushing drug dealers and shoving his way into people's houses at gunpoint; this before we feel a transition of sorts is in progress. This is a transition the film, remember, wants you to recall is driven by pure love for another human being as well as the supposed false imprisonment of said human being; so it's all perfectly fine and all right to root for this guy and his actions, correct? That is if you buy into what the film offers in this sense.

So the film is an amusing trawl through France's underworld, as con artists; escape artists; counterfeiters and gangsters all make separate appearances. To the film's credit, director Fred Cavayé knows how to shift from horror and terror; to thrills and spills; to sheer suspense in equal measure. His film delivers on a visceral level of such a premise being executed in the manner it is with a series of scenes that exist to evoke such extreme reactions of pity, sorrow and willing. All this while its lead, practically the only real 'character' in the entire film, goes through a transition which offers a backbone to all the mayhem. It's not one of the best French efforts from recent times, but as far as this current spate of usually Luc Besson infused; kinetic; pleasure-aim; 'bang-for-your-buck' films go, Anything for Her is surprisingly above average.