Review of Live by Night (2016) by Zhuwangp — 27 Apr 2017

Ok so this is the first I saw that technically released this year so this is where I start. Short version to summarize the movie is that it is a gangster film staring and directed by Ben Afflect. I would want to summarize the plot but it is way too incoherent yet generic so think of it as a rise to power kind of mafia film like scar face.

After the Town and Argo people thinks that Ben Afflect is the next big director or something. I have not seen Argo but judging from what I saw in the Town I have to say I am not that impressed. Mostly because his narrative style bothers me and some of the plot points are too much in your face and lack of subtlety. Here the problem got worse. 90% of the time he is talking to you in narration which is common for gangster movies but here is felt way too blunt. I won't go into details but just imagine Morpheus from Matrix narrating the whole movie.

Another problem is the pacing. It is so boring. Now there is a difference between slow and boring. So is paced is lack of speed but there is pay off like the Shining and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. But boring means things barely happen with no pay off. And this film is boring. The first 20 minutes was my God I was so bored that I almost want to leave. Things happen but there is no weight. You can cut it out and there is no impact to the rest of the film whatsoever. There are many moment in the film where there are many plot points just lead to no where or there are too many side stories and just lack focus.

Now with the negative things I said there are some positives. The cinematography is amazing every shot is worth putting on your wall. The acting is good especially from Elle Flanning who surprisingly sympathetic. But it can not save the movie and it bombed at the box office. To be honest I only heard of this movie randomly in a commercial a week before it came out and only from a word of mouth knew it is made by Ben Afflect. I don't necessarily hate this movie there are some amazing moments like the final gun fight was brilliant and many individual moments that shines. Given the raise in quality of the movies this year, I wouldn't the movie is bad but it is definitely the least entertaining film I have seen so far.