3 Days to Kill MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +1 Content: -4

Kevin Costner, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen. Action/crime/drama. Written by Adi Hasak, Luc Besson. Directed by McG.

FILM SYNOPSIS: A dying secret service agent trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter is offered an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for one last assignment.

PREVIEW REVIEW: During the opening sequence, our fearless hero chases after two arch villains named “The Wolf” and The Albino,” all the while fighting a bad cough. They get away, he discovers he’s dying and all he wants is to reunite with his ex-wife and estranged teenage daughter who he only calls once a year on her birthday.

A femme fatale shows up dressed in black leather and instructs him to find and neutralize The Wolf and The Albino. In exchange, she gives him a shot of an experimental drug from a supersize syringe that may keep him alive longer. So he continues to chase bad guys, beat up henchmen and oversexed male night clubbers who get a little frisky with his naïve daughter, and seek and dispatch countless world-dominator-wannabes. It’s the kind of storyline I would expect should James Bond suddenly discover he has a family. He wants to settle down, but the super-secret agency he works for always has an assignment to save the world.

Is it a spoof? A crime thriller? A family drama? This strange mood-changing actioneer is like a comic book with impressive drawings, but shallow on storyline. The lead’s a killing machine, but buys his “little girl” a bike. He may be psychotic with a touch of family man sensitivity.

Directed by McG (that’s his name, I swear), who has chosen to take on several genres, proves unable to combine them. The mood-changes are off-putting.

I was reminded of the far superior Bruce Willis thriller, Die Hard, which would be my DVD alternative if not for the abusive language it contained. Hey, I can’t recommend a film where Christ’s name is uttered irreverently. And that’s another problem with 3 Days to Kill. The lead profanes God’s name and Christ’s several times.

As for young Hailee Steinfeld, who was so terrific in the remake of True Grit, I became a fan after seeing her work in that film. She has the chops. Unfortunately for her, she began her career working with great filmmakers, aided by a marvelous script in a western that may be the best western since, well, the original True Grit. She can only go downward from there. She certainly has with this forgettable exercise in moviemaking futility.

Intended Audience: People who questioned, “Should I stay home and read a book or go to a movie?” and wrongly chose movie going.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Relativity Media