Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after watching the rather abysmal ‘Spenser Confidential’ and ‘Mile 22’, it was rather satisfying to see that, at some point, Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg actually knew what they were doing. Indeed, at the time, their gimmick was to tell together some real-life stories (see also 'Deepwater Horizon' and 'Lone Survivor') and I have to admit that, each time, they really nailed it. In this case, I was actually rather impressed by the beginning scenes. Indeed, Berg gave each set of characters just a few minutes each but he still managed to properly introduce them in a very organic and believable way. To be honest, I was rather surprised that Wahlberg was actually the only one playing a fictional character but it did explain how this cop was pretty much always around at the most crucial moments. At least, he didn't end up playing one of these super-cops solving the whole case by himself, in fact, Wahlberg was actually quite vulnerable in a few scenes and, in the process, he probably gave here one of his best performances. Concerning the story itself, even though I was aware of this tragedy, I didn't really know how it really went down in details and, once again, I was fairly impressed by the approach chosen by Peter Berg. Indeed, it seems that they went really into details to reproduce these events so, at times, it did have a nice documentary feeling, but there were also some really tensed moments so, the end-result was a highly realistic thriller which was quite spellbinding to behold. To be honest, even if I understand why they did add a supplement at the end of the movie where interviews with real life people were shown, it did feel overly patriotic and, somehow, it turned these tragic events into some kind of PR operation for the city of Boston in particular and for the USA in general. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, it was still a very well made thriller based on actual events and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
Patriots Day Reviews
A good movie
Posted : 3 years, 10 months ago on 16 July 2020 09:170 comments, Reply to this entry
A thrilling, edifying nail-biter
Posted : 6 years, 9 months ago on 30 July 2017 05:20The screenplay (credited to Berg, Matt Cook and Joshua Zetumer) reportedly reconciles two different Boston Marathon bombing projects, in order to split its focus between the victims affected by the terror attack and the authorities involved in the manhunt. Patriots Day is a full meal, exploring the lead-up to the marathon and showing the general reaction after the bombings, with many Americans taking it personally. Berg also provides a snapshot of the other side, delving into the strange relationship between the two perpetrators, on top of showing Dzhokhar's stoner college roommates choosing to protect their pal after recognising him in the photos released to the media. Wisely, the film doesn't pretend to know the brothers' motivation for the bombing - Tamerlan is seen watching terrorist propaganda videos online, and religious rewards are briefly discussed, but no definitive answers are presented.
8.9/10
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Patriots Day review
Posted : 7 years, 3 months ago on 18 January 2017 10:38*I'm not sure what to really think before watching this.
*The only trailer I saw didn't show a lot to go on.
*I feel it's a tad soon, but then again these days it doesn't seem to take long for them to create films of tragedies and such.
*I have enjoyed all of Peter Berg's work with The Rundown, The Kingdom, and Lone Survivor.
*Matt Cook also wrote Triple 9 which I felt was just good.
*Joshua Zetumer also wrote the Robocop remake that wasn't that bad.
*Paul Tamasy was involved with the Air Bud series and The Fighter. What a strange combo.
*Eric Johnson also wrote The Fighter as well as The Finest Hours (Which I still need to see).
*So let's see if this is worth the watch.
Pros:
*The acting is pretty excellent.
*You really care about who these people were.
*I thought the way they ended the movie was a good idea.
*While it can be a bit graphic it doesn't seem like glorification.
Cons:
*It's a bit heavy on the graphic images which I feel is a tad too much for this.
*It feels a bit too long at times.
Verdict:
It's not really an easy watch if you ask me. When things are shown it gets pretty brutal. I'm really not sure if it was a good idea to have it be so graphic in parts. It's the kind of thing that isn't like a horror movie. You know these things happened. It's a really well done movie though. I wouldn't recommend it for people who can't handle grisly imagery however. If you can I would definitely say to check this one out.
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