Review of Good Time (2017) by Cole W — 05 Nov 2017

I feel like I say this every time I watch one of their movies, but this is another winner from A24. Whoever is directing Robert Pattinson's career, post Twilight, is picking some absolute winners for him to feature in, and this is arguably as good as he has ever been. He offers a wildly contrasting performance here, with a character that evolves over the span of one crazy night in New York, which he spends frantically trying to free his mentally challenged brother from police custody after a botched armed robbery.

The film has a deathly dark comedic tone throughout, but it is the second half where it really comes to the fore, with the hilarious introduction of a 'third wheel' character, played by newcomer Buddy Duress, who elevates the film with his manic performance. It has a distinctly Hitchcockian trope throughout, in that it plays out almost like a comedy of errors (whatever could go wrong for the lead character does) but the direction from the Safdie Brothers is anything but, relying on a gritty documentary style, but is beautifully shot and edited - the overhead helicopter shots towards the end are particularly deftly handled.

Special mention for the amazing soundtrack by local Manhattan-Based Oneohtrix Point Never, who has produced a score that really heightens the tension throughout, while keeping the pace moving - it feels like a shorter film that the 100 minutes running time, which is always a good sign.

Definitely one of my favourites of the year. Robert Pattinson - currently one of our finest actors? Who would have predicted that?