Patriots Day

Boston is one of the United States' most storied and important cities. 

Annoying as all hell in sports, sure, but still a city in which this nation's past and deepest beliefs are held some of the most true. 

Patriots Day represents a proud one for the city itself as it cherishes and celebrates wonderful things about America: coming together, baseball, and running really, really long distances. Much like the city it takes place in, the Boston Marathon is one of the most prominent and celebrated in the nation. It's a display of some of the world's most fit athletes, and even those that may not be, striving toward a tremendous achivement of running over 26 miles. 

And in April of 2013, that event, one that celebrates the good of humanity, was the target of a terrorist attack. The attack killed 3, one of which was a child, and injured over 200. I remember when I heard the news I was sitting in an engineering class. What would unfold over the next several days was nothing short of captivating and surreal. Somehow, maybe by a small miracle, the loss of life was not larger as these explosions went off literally right under people's feet. With the bombs not being suicide explosions, a manhunt ensued that engrossed the nation. I remember seeing news stories everyday about what was happening and, as is the case of in-the-moment analysis, being a little jaded by it all. Jaded or not though, I remember being blown away and impressed by the city of Boston as a whole. Not only did they come together after a tragedy unlike anything I think we've ever seen, but their heroes in blue and first responders worked tirelessly for justice, at one point even shutting the city down in order to catch one of the dumbasses. Some may argue it was overkill to which I'd wholeheartedly disagree. In the fact that it was a display of terrorism, the nation and specifically Boston showed, resoundingly, that if you f**k with us, we will find you quickly and you will be either A) killed or B) have no inspiring future for the rest of your days. 

Obviously all of this is background and I haven't even begun to mention the film yet. It's one that comes rather soon after the events, all things considered, but I found it to be incredibly powerful, well made, and inspiring. It may only be January, but I could see Patriots Day being one of the best films of 2017. 

Hope you're ready for your Mark Wahlberg fix...

Bravery and Dedication to the job

The film represents the third main collaboration between directer Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg in what's really become their "everyman trilogy". With Lone Survivor, they tackled the tremendous tale of a surviving Marine, with last year's excellent Deepwater Horizon, they took on the BP Oil Spill and the heroes aboard the rig, and now with Patriots Day we have a fairly comprehensive view of the events of the day, centralizing mainly around one of Boston's finest. Patriots Day is this duo's absolute finest work yet, which shouldn't discredit their previous team-ups in the slightest. It plays almost like an epic and, if it would have been an hour longer it may very well have been. The film's strength is that it is constantly moving forward and it aims to tackle the entire endeavor. Whereas another film could have just looked at the actual race bombing, Patriots Day goes from the day before the race (setting up some characters) all the way to the capture of dumbass #2 and Big Papi's wonderful "this is our f**king city" declaration at a Red Sox game once it was all said and done. That scope is enormous and the film does mildly struggle with it at times, but overall its quite an achievement to tell so much story as this in just a little over two hours. The organization of all it wants to say is an achievement in and of itself too and it results in a film that both informs the viewers of the events and connects them to it with some human interaction. 

Wahlberg is once again excellent in this type of role. The movie jumps between so many characters that I wouldn't necessarily say he carries it outside of the first 30 minutes, but his performance still amounts to some of the best in his career. His fictional character, one of the very few in the film, has moments of anger, frustration, and deep hurt that Wahlberg conveys expertly. The rest of the cast is worth mentioning too with John Goodman, J.K. Simmons, Kevin Bacon, and others all bringing a lot of gravitas to their real-life-person roles. Even the actors who play the terrorist brothers convey their characters with conviction and look strikingly like the men themselves. 

The aforementioned pacing lends itself to an engrossing, exciting, and powerful movie. Moments of investigation are astounding as the public was unaware of most of the behind the scenes work that was done in the days after. It was these parts of the film, the ones I'd personally never heard about, that were some of its best and certainly most interesting. The moments of the explosion and the shootout in Waterton are both incredibly intense, in your face, but nowhere near offensive. There is no pleasure taken in the images being shown, many of which are graphic, and it's all very realistic, making them all the more effective. This is Berg's direction at its best and is complimented nicely by some fantastic editing and camerawork throughout. 

Likely a very surreal moment for many BPD officers that day

Not only is Patriots Day Berg and Wahlberg's best film yet, it's their most important and it nails the feel and outcome of that event right on the head. It was an awful act of evil by two terrible, terrible people. But what came from it within the city of Boston was nothing short of miraculous and inspiring for not only the rest of the nation, but the rest of the world. This film does a fantastic job honoring that theme as well as honoring those whose lives were so radically altered that day. Given how recent the events were and how thin of a line that is to walk, Patriots Day is a grand achievement. 

CONS:

• It aims to tackle a lot of people's stories and facts about the ordeal. It bites off a little bit more than it can chew and there are certainly aspects/scenes that didn't need to be included
• A few of the jumps back and forth between characters/focus are awkward or jarring in transisition

PROS:

• The scope of the film is its biggest asset and it tells a very complete, historical, and factual analysis of the events of the Boston Marathon and the subsequent capture of the terrorists
• Incredible pacing. It's a movie that's slightly over two hours and I sincerely thought it felt like one
• A large reason for this is the equally as impressive editing. Really impressive job on that front
• Mark Wahlberg and everyone else in the film know why they're making this movie. Their honor to the victims and the city come through in their performances
• A very interesting look at the behind the scenes work during the manhunt. It's insanely impressive what a city's public and fast-working government can accomplish in such a short time
• Well done "action" scenes that are intense, respectful, and memorable
• I appreciated the end's transition into real life interviews and it made it all the more powerful and inspiring
• Past being a well made movie, Patriots Day is respectful of the event itself and uplifting in its message of perseverance and hope and love

Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10