Review of Patriots Day (2016) by Ben B — 17 Jan 2017

Patriots Day was directed by Peter Berg and marks the third entry in an unofficial non-fiction-based trilogy of movies directed by Berg and staring Mark Wahlberg (Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon). Wahlberg plays a fictional Boston police sergeant working the Boston Marathon in 2013 on the day of the bombing incident that resulted in 3 dead and hundreds injured. The film follows the events of that day and their impact on the city as civilians and officers have to work together to find the suspects.

I was unsure of what to expect going in to this movie. I really enjoyed Deepwater Horizon, but I thought Lone Survivor was just okay. Berg has made a career out of these chest-thumping patriotic movies, having directed films like Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom. While this style of film might not appeal to me, a lot of people love his movies.

No matter the subject matter, Berg is very good at establishing an environment for his movies to live in. The city of Boston is portrayed beautifully, almost acting as its own character in the movie. This is thanks to gorgeous establishing shots and a fitting score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network). Performances across the board are solid, especially from Michelle Monaghan, but Kevin Bacon goes a little over-the-top at times in his FBI agent role.

While the movie is great to look at and listen to, there was no enjoyment to be found here. The story Berg is trying to tell is of a city coming together to overcome terrible deeds, but it feels flat. Wahlberg is a good actor, but his character is as generic as a Boston cop can be. As one of the only entirely fictional characters in the movie, Wahlberg could have been given a heftier role and a lot more background. I've looked into some reviews from Boston-based film reviewers, and they agree that this character is like a watered-down Boston civilian. Another thing I didn't like about this movie is how quickly people jumped to the conclusion that people of Muslim faith were behind the bombings. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure anybody is capable of committing those acts if they wanted to. The ease with which news outlets, law enforcement officers, and Boston citizens blamed people of Muslim faith baffled me and took me out of the rest of the movie.

At the end of the day, maybe I'm more liberal than I thought, but Patriots Day, while aptly directed, shot, and acted, is an unnecessary and possibly even exploitative movie that feels longer than its 2+ hour run time suggests. Go spend your money on Rogue One or La La Land again instead of wasting your time here.

FInal grade: C-.

-Ben.