GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

jonahcybarra-82318 Hollywood is founded upon the idea of producing films that entertain audiences and make money. At the end of the day it is always about the money. An unfortunate, and frankly sickening, side effect of this cornerstone of entertainment is that when tragedy strikes, often times there is a film made about said tragedy. While some involved are I'm sure simply looking to honor the memories of those lost and do justice in telling their story, more often than not the events the film is based upon are embellished and glamorized. This is not the case of this film. This film does an amazing job of presenting the audience with the main characters, their families, motivations, faults and immediately make the audience connect and care for the characters. Mark Wahlberg gives one of the best and most versatile performances of his career as Boston cop Tommy Saunders, a man with his fair share of faults but with a heart of a servant who wants to protect his family and the city of Boston as a whole. Supported by a talented secondary cast led by John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, Michelle Monaghan, and J.K. Simmons as well as early performances of up-and-coming stars Lana Condor and Alex Wolff, this film's casting director did a great job of finding those who actually look like their real-life counterparts. Another aspect of this film that director Peter Berg did well was the building of tension in each scene. Through sound, camera movement and angles, and lighting, as each moment passed, the tension grew and I was hooked in from the beginning. A testament to filmmaking done right, Patriots Day is a patriotic film that goes against the Hollywood norm and tells this true story faithfully and honoring all of those involved.

The Movie Diorama Depicting real life events and portraying them for the purpose of entertainment can feel exploitative. Utilising the innocence and helplessness of lives within a tragedy could be illustrated in a way that feels excessively melodramatic. Whilst this film does occasionally suffer from exploitation, overall it's an incredibly powerful window that openly views the sheer bravery and determination of an entire city. A dramatisation of the 2013 Boston marathon bombings where policing individuals are tasked with hunting down the terrorists. Berg and Wahlberg continue their trend of interpreting recent events in a motion picture, with this entry easily being their most formidably challenging depiction. Berg seamlessly balances humanistic melancholy that evokes powerful emotions with thrillingly realistic action sequences to create an involving film. Boston becomes this microcosm for America. A city's resilience is translated across the sprawling country. It's not just specific individuals hunting down the culprits, it's a nation tackling the ever growing issue or terrorism. Radicalisation that is endangering the lives of many. Berg captures the essence of Boston, a tough hearty city, and powers it through his direction. His technical assurance elevates the confidence of what the film is attempting to dramatise. It is moving. It is powerful. It is relentless. His consistent use of combining real footage, particularly the film's ending, with Wahlberg's solid performance only enhances the gritty realism of the pressurised hours after the event. I appreciate the moment of reflection from the survivors, however it does come across as emotionally manipulative thus detracting from the nuanced tone. The surprise really comes from the "plot", where the attention is primarily focused on detailing the police and investigative work that preceded the explosions. The immediate pressure from governmental entities and media presence heightens the tension rapidly and instantly draws you in. Impressively patriotic and unexplotative.

SnoopyStyle Various people's lives cross path in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and its following manhunt. It is directed by Peter Berg and starring Boston native Mark Wahlberg.Originally, I feared Mark Wahlberg. He's not the greatest of actors although my bigger fear is that they would make the movie about him. That partly happened. Honestly, I cringed when he started yelling at Kevin Bacon and I rolled my eyes when he showed up to interview the Chinese guy. By placing him in the center of every aspect of the investigation, the movie loses a sense of reality. There is no need for him to be at every aspect of the manhunt. I do love the walk-thru with the security cameras. Otherwise, his role should be cut in half. This shouldn't be a vehicle for Mark.On the other hand, I am overjoyed with the other people's stories. I love the Chinese guy and MIT security guy. This could cut back Wahlberg mugging for the cameras and add work from the other cops. Give me more J.K. Simmons. This movie should not be an one-man story if it purports to show the events in its entirety.

Gavin Purtell 'Patriots Day' is another "based-on-real-events" film by Berg, after 'Lone Survivor' and 'Deepwater Horizon' - and this is just as good. I think once he got 'Battleship' out of his system, he's only got good directing left! He takes his time introducing a set of ~10 characters in the first 20min (no titles), in the lead up to and the start of the 2013 Boston Marathon. Tommy (Wahlberg) is the everyman cop, Carol (Monaghan) is his wife, Ed (Goodman) is the police commissioner, DesLauriers (Bacon) is the FBI agent, Tamerlan (Melikidze) and Dzhokhar (Wolff) are the bombers, and there's a few other 'regular' couples introduced, so we get coverage of the incident from various angles.Once the bombs go off, it's utter chaos and is shown very realistically - heart-wrenchingly so - with plenty of smoke, blood, sirens and people screaming everywhere. Tommy does the best he can, but it's good to see him exhausted and overwhelmed once he's back home with Carol. We see firsthand some of the victims in hospital - plenty of amputations. Then, it turns to police/FBI efficiency, with a "hours since bombing" graphic letting us know the timeline, as they try to catch the suspects. This man-hunt aspect of the film keeps the momentum up.Some of the characters we've been following that seem to have no role are suddenly involved (i.e. Sergeant Pugliese (Simmons) and Meng (Yang)) as the man-hunt escalates into a shootout. I'm not entirely sure of the actual events that happened after the marathon bombing, so I'm not sure how much creative license was taken by Berg, but there's a satisfactory conclusion. The film wraps up with the real-life people of the characters we've been watching speaking on the impact it's had on their lives. There's some truly emotional and touching moments throughout the film, and while it's sometimes too overtly patriotic, it shows the impact on real people and their resilience.