Review of Live by Night (2016) by Spangle — 17 Jan 2017

Having read the novel by Dennis Lehane, it became apparent that any adaptation of the novel would have to be long in order to capture the sprawling grandness of the novel. From Boston to jail to Ybor City to Cuba, the book has a lot of players, a lot of angles, lots of action and moving parts, and a lot of subplots. The film adaptation sticks largely to these transitions and mentions many of the subplots without diving into them. This is both to the film's detriment and betterment as it often feels as it lacks the depth necessary to make all of its pieces work, but also feels like it is adding in too much. As many have said, making it shorter or longer would have been for the best. However, the final product - which sits at just over two hours in length - is very, very good. Ultimately a barometer on how much people like Ben Affleck, the critical and audience reaction has said that Affleck sucks at either acting, directing, or writing, or a selection of the trio. Fortunately, for me, I do really enjoy Affleck's work in all three arenas. As such, Live by Night falls right into my wheelhouse and, for the most part, works very well.

That said, it is hardly perfect. The beginning section, set in Boston and in jail, is rocky to say the least. For critics who do not enjoy Affleck, this early section makes it easy to write it off as nothing more than a derivative homage to old school gangster and noir flicks. With a femme fatale, underdeveloped morality elements, heists, a cop father, and brushing shoulders with death and gangsters, and doing all of these while smoking a well shot cigarette in a suit with a fedora, the beginning is derivative. It is also messily put together, typically shot, and poorly edited. Scenes smash into one another as Affleck skims through the first 100+ pages of the book to try and get to the good part. He sprinkles little pieces here and there to set the scene and tries to rush through it all. Likely, editing this portion was a real pain as it is the slowest part of the film and is entirely necessary. As such, it flies by and feels wholly inadequate.

For this who decide to stick around, however, Affleck delivers a tremendous gangster flick once we hit Ybor City. Charged with running the rum operation in Tampa of gangster Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone), Joe Coughlin (Affleck) is a nice guy. He can kill, but cannot live with the guilt. While the beginning is derivative and typical of gangster flicks, this section is hardly typical. Cruel gangster with a conscience has been done before, but not quite like this. Instead, he is an uncruel gangster who operates more as a remorseful businessman. His line of business demands violence, but unless the person makes an overt case for deserving a bullet to the head, he is hardly a gunman. Instead, he runs a tremendous operation and lives out the American dream with his best friend Dino Bartolo (Chris Messina) at his side. Taking on the KKK and the gang of Albert White (Robert Gleinster) at every turn, Joe is able to defeat all comers. He corners the market in Ybor City and, as the book explains more and the movie hints at, the entirety of the South stretching to New Orleans. Raking in cash, he also meets a Cuban freedom fighter who becomes his wife, Graciela Suarez (Zoe Saldana). Life is good as he plans on opening a casino to preempt the legalization of alcohol. Until he meets Loretta Figgis (Elle Fanning).

The daughter of Chief Sheriff Irving Figgis (Chris Cooper), Loretta is gorgeous. She is off to Hollywood, but trips along the way and falls into heroin and the sex trade. Joe brings her back to Ybor City as his end of a bargain with Irving in exchange for a KKK member's head. Loretta returns and becomes a preacher who commands a large congregation and builds up serious political sway. She also happens to be anti-gambling, as she views it as a vice and a sin against God. Though directed to kill her, Joe cannot. She kills the casino deal and ends Joe's run as the Mayor of Ybor. Why could he not kill her? Well, to explain that, it really dives into what makes Live by Night so good.

Early in the film, Joe's father Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson) warns his bandit of a son that we reap what we sow in life. Joe, a good man, knows this. He knows that his gangster lifestyle will come back to haunt him because of the violence he must commit to remain relevant. He kills people via booze, pimps out girls, and sells drugs. He is not a good man and this bothers him. As Albert White explains to Joe early in the film, Joe is looking for somebody to make him pay for his sins. Joe is remorseful and regrets his sins, which is why he cannot kill Loretta. He envies and admires her. She went to hell and back. She preaches and lives up to the word of God. She sinned and escaped retribution for her sins. She outran the rebuking (her father spanking her does not count). This is really underscored in the final shot of the film.