3 días para matar

We can't understand why this movie has such a low rating – it's Luc Besson writing & humour at its most entertaining and Costner – like fine wine – gets better with age – is just great – no flab – it's kinda like Taken but with a few home truths (which came later with Taken….) If you want a bit of thriller entertainment of an evening, this does it for us.

Continuing my plan to watch every movie in Kevin Costner's filmography in order I come to 2014's three days to kill.

Plot In A Paragraph: Ethan Renner (KC) an estranged father, with limited time to live, desperately tries to reconnect with his estranged wife and daughter before his death. Oh and he is a C.I.A. field agent, that is promised an experimental drug if he agrees to one last job.

3 Days To Kill was marketed as an action film like Taken. I guess, that is a fair description. But there is more to it than that!! It is also an melodrama mixed in with foreign intrigue, assassination plots, kidnappings, and murders. There is plenty going on. Maybe it would have been better in Luc Besson's directed his own script, as it seems uneven at times.

Ridiculously implausible, but that doesn't take away from its entertainment value at times. There is a silly sub-plot about a squatting family of immigrants who have taken shelter in KC's flat, but the distraction is minimal. The annoying daughters bratty attitude grows tiresome early on (I actually wanted several horrible fates to befall her) but she is worth protection by the ended the movie.

With the exception of 3000 Miles To Graceland, 3 Days To Kill is without doubt the most action packed/violent movie in KC's filmography.

There's not much to recommend this film. Neither the acting, direction, script, music, or photography offer anything new to the genre, and in some cases, it is far below average. Among the actors, only 18 year old Hailee Steinfeld (she plays Costner's daughter) stands out. You'll remember her from "Enders Game" and "True Grit" and I thought this was her best performance to date. Costner has played this role so many times before he's obviously bored with it, and it doesn't even begin to approach his work in "The Bodyguard". Amber Heard is completely miscast, and even if she weren't, the dialog and the crazy costume changes would be difficult to overcome. Indeed Heard's costume changes are a metaphor for the film itself, which doesn't seem to know whether it is a comedy (in which case it fails), an action thriller (which is far too long and not too thrilling), a romance (without much spark by anyone), or just a plain family adventure (with too much violence).

Luc Besson provided the story and the screenplay. Besson is a gifted writer with such marvelous credits as "La Femme Nikita", "Leon" (aka "The Professional"), "The Fifth Element", and "Columbiana". He also wrote "Taken", "The Transporter", and "Kiss of the Dragon" which weren't as good as the first group, but still well above average. This film has elements from many of his previous works, but the stitching comes loose in this one. Most of Besson's best films he also directed, so perhaps the problem lies there. Or perhaps it lies with director McG who is primarily a TV director and producer. Indeed, the film's uneven tone was clearly one of the major problems with his "Chuck" series.

Give this one a miss. Apart from the many on location shots of Paris, there's not much to recommend it.

I enjoyed this movie. A lot of action & some entertaining dialogue. Costner was convincing as the lead. He's consistently good in everything he does.

Unfortunately, Amber Heard was miscast. Although she's lovely to look at, she didn't pull off her character.

Paris was the backdrop for this film. I have a special link to that city as it's where I met the love of my life 36 yrs ago. Just another reason to like this flick.

This movie was surprising. It was actually quite funny. I laughed out loud a few times. It had some cool fight scenes. Kevin Costner was awesome as usual. I really liked his character and the quirky humour. Don't take it too seriously. Give it a go. You might be pleasantly surprised.