Kevin Costner
Amber Heard
Hailee Steinfeld

Luc Besson
Adi Hasak

117 mins.
Action, Drama, Thriller
February 21, 2014

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language. (MPAA)

“3 Days to Kill” attempts to be a action-spy thriller with a heart. Why? There’s nothing new or special here. So what the filmmakers needed to do was create a film that’s lean and no-nonsense. Just focus on making a film that gets the job done, please.

Instead, we have a story about a CIA spy who finds out that he has only a little bit of time left to live (three months) and who attempts to stay alive a little bit longer by agreeing to complete a job in three days (hence, the title) in exchange for experimental medicine. He agrees to this exchange in order to redeem himself in the eyes of his wife and his daughter. That could’ve worked if this film spent less time exploring that strained familial dynamic and less time exploring the completely superfluous story line involving a family of squatters from Mali. Regardless, it needs to go deeper when it does explore those two story lines.

The opening sequence is successful and seems credible for an action film. It has action, clarity, and appropriate pacing. It also introduces Kevin Costner as a seasoned spy with a dilemma: (Spoiler Alert!) His head-cold-like symptoms are actually the result of terminal brain cancer that has spread to his lungs. (End of Spoiler Alert!)

But the filmmakers weren’t satisfied with that as motivation, and they should’ve been. Unlike in “Taken,” this film’s main character isn’t allowed to do the work. So you can’t blame Costner, who does his job here; I liked his characterization a lot. You must blame the material; it doesn’t support him, at all. The filmmakers don’t trust him to be enough. His family should be window dressing, because we (or I) want action. This film should move like a bullet train from beginning to end. Instead, it stalls every time the focus shifts from killing to redeeming.

(Costner’s female spy counterpart is interesting, too. While her character is derivative, at least she’s fun to watch; and you can tell that Amber Heard had fun playing her.)

So that’s your story, people! If you want to recycle parts from previous action-spy movies (exchanges in hallways, stakeout vans, trained killers who want out of their job), then do it unabashedly. Cooking up a half-baked parallel story won’t distinguish your film; it just makes it seem like it’s trying too hard.

However, I must say that this film has a few good moments of action and some comedic moments (some work, most don’t), so it’s not unwatchable. It just could’ve been completely and outlandishly fun to watch.

As it is, “3 Days to Kill” is a film with fits and starts; it sputters toward its conclusion.

Verdict: OK to Whatever

About: (Source: 3days)

A terminally ill Secret Service agent is coaxed out of retirement for one last job in exchange for an experimental drug that could save his life, and give him more time with his estranged family. For decades Ethan Runner (Kevin Costner) has kept his dangerous career a carefully guarded secret — not even his wife and daughter know what he really does for a living. Shortly after receiving a grim medical diagnosis, Ethan decides to give up his dangerous career for one last shot at being a decent husband and father. Meanwhile, Ethan has been tasked with watching his daughter while his wife goes out of town for a few days. But when the agency offers Ethan a life-saving cure in exchange for capturing a notorious terrorist, he reluctantly accepts. Now, with his daughter’s safety in his hands for the first time in a decade and the powerful drug’s debilitating side effects taking hold, the hunt begins. Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, and Connie Nielsen co-star.