VOA标准英语2010年-Murder Conviction Leads to Jail Break

Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks co-star in the American version of a 2008 French thriller¹ about a schoolteacher who devises a plan to break his wife out of prison. The original was Pour Elle released with the English title Anything For Her. The Hollywood adaptation, by Oscar-winning writer-director Paul Haggis is called The Next Three Days.
Phil CarusoElizabeth Banks stars as Lara Brennan in THE NEXT THREE DAYSCollege professor John is stunned² and their young son is frantic³ when wife and mother Lara is dragged out in handcuffs, accused of murdering her boss. Convicted on circumstantial evidence, she is sentenced to life in prison. Refusing to believe that Lara did it, John pursues every possible appeal, but to no avail.
"Forget that Lara is your wife. Look at the evidence.""I've seen the evidence. She is innocent.""It doesn't matter what we believe; Lara is not getting out." With only three days before her transfer from the local jail to a high security prison, John sets out to break Lara out and reunite their family ...even if they have to be on the run.
"Why are you doing this?""Because we have no other choice."Phil CarusoRussell Crowe stars as John Brennan in THE NEXT THREE DAYSRussell Crowe stars as the distraught and determined⁴ husband.
"He has obviously got an unshakeable belief in his wife," explains Crowe, "and that transfers into how he researches what he needs to research and then when he hits those hurdles⁵ and things don't work out properly, the mere⁶ fact that he keeps going ...the transformation⁷, if there is one, is in his persistence⁸.
"One of the things I liked about the film is you see him go through the process of the research," Crowe adds, "thinking that maybe some of this stuff isn't going to come in handy or useful or whatever. Then he does certain things and you realize he really thought this out. This plan is multi-layered and I think that is one of the things that energizes⁹ that last act. Also, there's that thing of stepping over a certain line and stepping into a sort of a darker side of life and not fully¹⁰ realizing that comes with a certain level of commitment."Phil CarusoRussell Crowe, left, and Director/Sreenwriter/Producer Paul Haggis, right, on the set of THE NEXT THREE DAYSAn academic, John researches the jailbreak plan as he might for a scholarly thesis. Writer-director Paul Haggis says that parallels how he found details for the plot on the Internet.
"I do search around a lot and when we started to figure out how to do this movie that's what I did. I just went online and said 'he's a teacher, I'm a writer ...how would I break my wife out of jail?' The first thing I do is go to the Internet and search; and everything you see in the movie I found in the first day. It's all there. You can learn how to do all of these things. It's amazing what you can find on the Internet," Haggis said.
"From the time you make the call, the police can have the center of the city sealed tight in 15 minutes. Within 35 minutes they can have cops at every toll¹¹ booth on the interstate (highway).""What if you can't get out? Thirty-five minutes is not a lot of time.""Then surrender, because they will shoot you on sight."Phil CarusoJohn Brennan (Russell Crowe), left, and Mouss (RZA), right, in THE NEXT THREE DAYS"We all think 'Russell Crowe - action, larger than life' because of Gladiator, Robin¹² Hood¹³ and maybe two or three other films," notes the director, "but you look at the body of his work which is complex characters [and] he plays an 'everyman' so beautifully. That's why I knew when casting him that you throw those preconceptions out three minutes into the film and you go 'oh, he's never going to be able to pull this off.' That's why you cast Russell Crowe in the movie."Haggis cast Elizabeth Banks as Lara. As a mother in real life, Banks says she understands John's motivation is more than just a loving husband desperate to save his wife.
Phil CarusoLuke (Ty Simpkins) and Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) in THE NEXT THREE DAYS"The stakes of the movie are so much higher. It is not just a love story," says Banks." It's a story about a man who has a motherless child and needs to figure out how he is going to get his son's mother back."John never questions Lara's innocence¹⁴; but filmmaker Haggis wants audience members to make up their own minds.
"It is about the nature of trust and belief and his character completely believes in her innocence," Haggis says. "We have to look at that and go 'I think he's a little mad' because everyone, including her own attorney, looks at the same evidence and says she is guilty. So it is up to the audience to decide.""I don't care what you say or how you say it. I don't believe you did it and I never will. I know who you are and I promise you this will not be your life."The Next Three Days also features Liam Neeson as a prison break expert John consults in his research. Rap star plays a shady character that helps him get what he needs for the plan. The film was shot on location in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

2 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

3 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

6 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

9 energizes   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的第三人称单数 )；使通电

参考例句：

• However, heating energizes the vibrational, rotational, and electronic motions all at once. 但是，加热会一下子把振动、转动和电子运动统统加强。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Purpose always produces passion. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. 目的往往会带来热忱，没有任何东西比清晰的目的更有动力。 来自互联网

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

13 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

14 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。