In general, I'm willing to give Paul Haggis a chance. I hated Crash, along with most everyone else I know and respect, but I heard good things about the little-seen In the Valley of Elah, and there's a lot to say for scripts like Million Dollar Baby and Casino Royale.
But I have to draw the line on The Next Three Days, Haggis' next writing and directing project, a remake of the French film Pour Elle that basically seems to be one section of Crash, drawn out to feature length. Variety writes that the story is about a couple " finding themselves in an unthinkable situation and having to make desperate choices that will test the limits of love and alter their lives forever." Sure, that plot description could describe Michael Haneke's Funny Games. But it could also be Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton's characters from Crash, people who say out loud everything they're feeling and whose experiences are used to represent an entire ethnic group.
Anyway. We all get flack for judging these kinds of projects before we know anything about them, and like I said, Haggis has done a lot of good work in the past. But on the surface, this one is looking like a big fat pass.
