Luc Besson is partially responsible for Liam Neeson’s
renaissance as an action hero. Now, the prolific French auteur has turned his
sights on another aging screen idol in Kevin Costner. Besson serves as writer
and producer on 3 Days to Kill while
handing over directorial duties to the modern day Renny Harlin, McG.
Costner is CIA agent Ethan Renner, who just recently
transferred to Paris to repair his estranged relationship with his ex-wife
Christine (Connie Nielsen) and their daughter Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld). An
assignment goes tragically wrong when Renner and his team are tasked with
taking down the Albino (Tomas Lemarquis), a lieutenant in an organization led
by the mysterious Wolf (Richard Sammel). Several agents are killed, a hotel explodes,
and the Albino escapes when Ethan collapses in the street.
Doctors alert Ethan that he has an inoperable brain tumor
and only has a few months to live. He wishes to spend what little time he has
left with reconnecting with Zoey, who isn’t too eager to be with her formerly
absentee father. Ethan is soon given an offer he cannot refuse. Vivi (Amber
Heard) has been sent by her CIA handlers to kill the Wolf and offers Ethan an
experimental serum that can extend his life in exchange for his assistance.
The script by Besson and Adi Hasak is overstuffed with
subplots and scattershot in tone. 3 Days
to Kill floats between being an action flick, a comedy, and a maudlin
drama. In addition to Ethan’s troubles with terrorists and a rebellious
daughter, he’s also got a family of Malian squatters in his apartment leading
to some cutesy scenes between Costner and a little boy asking for high fives.
Amber Heard appears as the femme fatale with an all-too convenient
panacea. There’s really nothing to her character aside from a blatantly
salacious scene where Ethan meets Vivi while she receives a private show with a
stripper. Hailee Steinfeld is good, but you wish she had followed up her big
debut in True Grit with movies on a
similar level. The action itself isn’t memorable at all and the villains are
just generic Euro-trash.
Costner’s sheer presence is the one thing that binds the
mish-mash of Besson’s disparate ideas together. He doesn’t possess the
physically imposing stature of Neeson, but he conveys the same world weariness
with the folksy charm seen in Field of
Dreams. When Costner rescues his daughter from would-be rapists and carries
her off in his arms, you half-expect the soundtrack to start blaring Whitney
Houston.
Costner’s performance is enough to save 3 Days to Kill from being a complete dud, but it’s certainly not
enough to recommend.
Rating: ** (*****)
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