3 Days to Kill rewards patience

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      Starring Kevin Costner and Amber Heard. Rated 14A. Now playing

      The first few minutes of 3 Days to Kill will have you rolling your eyes in disbelief. Directed by TV series veteran McG—working from an original story by co-writer Luc Besson—the opening scenes read like a parody of a bad spy film. The initial body count borders on the ridiculous and the heavies here have names like “the Albino” and “the Wolf”. In short, things don’t look too promising.

      Fortunately, this is the kind of movie where your patience is ultimately rewarded. It all starts with a slyly subdued performance by Kevin Costner as Ethan Renner. A veteran CIA agent who wants to mend fences with his estranged wife (Connie Nielsen) and teenaged daughter (Hailee Steinfeld). Since Ethan has a terminal disease—leaving him with only a few months to live—he’s in a bit of a hurry to make up for lost time.

      Ethan travels to Paris, determined to reunite with his family and make the most of his last days. But things get complicated when he encounters a sexy CIA agent named Vivi (Amber Heard, adding some much needed glamour to the mix). Vivi makes Ethan an offer he can’t refuse. In return for working on one last assignment, she’ll provide him with an experimental drug that could very well extend his life past the expected expiry date.

      Eager to have as much time with his daughter as possible, Ethan takes the deal. The problem? The veteran agent is in no shape to chase down the bad guys. He keeps blacking out at inopportune moments. And the rest of the time, he looks like a guy with a bad case of the flu.

      Thankfully, there’s a lot more going on here than standard spy stuff. In fact, Besson’s story puts at least as much emphasis on Ethan’s fumbling attempts to develop a relationship with his daughter. When this part of the plot works—and it works surprisingly often—we’re left with something oddly sweet.

      The cast is here is generally solid. But it’s Costner—underplaying his role with consummate skill—who’s easily the most fun to watch.

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