Review of Patriots Day (2016) by Mark S — 08 Jun 2017

This trend of historical fiction films based on a history that's only a few years old is kind of a strange trend, but if it means we keep getting movies like this...yeah, let's do it. I loved Deepwater Horizon, and Patriot's Day is probably just as good. It's something of a sister film, with largely the same team behind it both behind and in front of the camera, and it still works. It has a real world quality to it, and not just in the fact that it's a true event. It often uses security cameras for scenes, eerily recreating security camera footage a lot of us saw on the days following the Boston Marathon bombing. That's the funny thing this movie can do to, since it's based on a very recent event, you end up filling in the blanks from the movie with knowledge you have of the actual event. It's been a long time since I really thought about that attack, but as I was watching the movie, it started to come back to me and I remembered little details that enhanced the movie. It's a strange sort of symbiotic relationship to the film that I've never really had with a movie before. The odd thing is there's some scenes in the movie that, in any other movie, I would have called out as a bit excessive and unrealistic, particularly a shootout that occurs in a residential area during the films climax. But because it's based on true events, and because the reality between the film and your memory of the events puts you in such an open state, I never questioned it. I also liked the films human element. It really is a film about the power of the human spirit and how a couple of a**holes full of misguided hate are wildly outnumbered by the love and determination of everyone else. The final moments of the film are genuinely touching, and might even induce a few tears. One final kudos I have to give to the movie is not shying away from the Muslim jihadist aspect of the story, but still making it clear that these were not true Muslims. There's an entire scene dedicated to showing how misguided and, for want of a better term, stupid their take on jihad-ism and being Muslim is. It's positively brutal, a necessary separation of them from true Muslims, and I loved it.

My issues with this film are pretty minor, but I had a couple. As much as I loved giving each character attention before they become relevant when s*** hits the fan, a lot of times making us empathize with them ultimately came down to giving them a love interest, and after they played their part in the main events most of them were largely forgotten about. I see what they were trying to do, and I respect it, but it could have been handled better. Similarly, I'm not sure what to think of Mark Wahlberg's role. He's sort of an amalgamation character of all the cops who played a role in the bombing investigation. I understand why they did this, but it starts to become a little unbelievable that this one low-ranking cop would continuously find himself in the middle of the action. It's the type of thing you're willing to buy in say a Die Hard movie, but in a true story movie, it doesn't quite work. I understand why they did this, and I'm not sure how I would do it better, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't come off as a little weird.

Ultimately my problems with this movie are really little more than slight annoyances, hardly anything that could come close to ruining the experience. Because in the end, I loved this movie. It left a strong impact on me and as soon as I was done watching it I wanted to tell everyone I know about how great it was. It's a fascinating feet-on-the-ground look at a story we all know from the news, and watching these people work so hard to catch these guys is inspiring and fascinating. I loved watching these people work, just seeing them do their job and do it with such determination was riveting. And the heart of the movie and it's message of the power of love over hate is genuinely touching. It's an incredible movie, I loved it.