Patriots Day: Review
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons, Lana Condor, Melissa Benoist, Michelle Monaghan (Rated M – 133 min).
The annual Boston Marathon is a family event that brings together people far and wide, a day of city celebration beginning early culminating towards a Red Sox baseball game at the famous Fenway Park in the evening.
April 15, 2013: Terrorists detonated a bomb within the finish line proximity and the world watched in horror. Grappling with human toll so close to the tragedy is a risk but the film works so well on a dramatic level. Qualms are temporarily put aside to tell a story of courage, human spirit and determination of authorities through a sophisticated manhunt.
Immersive and intense, divided into several story-lines focusing on several individuals, the main protagonist is a fictionalised composite to blend the story around actual people involved.
Pace is so leisurely to begin with, you are almost caught unawares when the horrible event occurs. Mark Wahlberg is salt of the earth hot-head officer Tommy Saunders who is kind of banished into working off a suspension doing uniformed duties at the marathon. Joking with his wife (Michelle Monaghan), he looks like some kind of lolly pop man, it seems as if the day will be casual until the incident hits.
Experienced next is first-hand accounts of widespread panic, police assistance and people in general going beyond the call of duty to help others, it’s incredible. Forensic evidence as the investigation ramps up becomes riveting to proceedings as high ranked authorities determined to catch the bombers work together. Magnificent as always, Kevin Bacon injects hardcore passion into his Special FBI agent role melting the screen with pure adrenaline.
J.K Simmons makes an abrupt unforgettable appearance and a relatively thinner John Goodman barks orders to perfection to his foot patrol as Commissioner Davis. Best known as teen-friendly Supergirl, young Melissa Benoist stays grounded turning icy as the wife of one of the terrorists. She’s cold.
Great acting all round give personable moments in between the dreadful mayhem. Stay on at the end for commendable interviews with original people involved in the story.
Shane A. Bassett
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