Review of Patriots Day (2016) by Tvjerry — 24 Jan 2017

Mark Wahlberg plays a police officer involved in the search to find the terrorists behind the Boston Marathon bombing. This is one of several POVs in this gripping drama: It also explores stories of several survivors, the law enforcement procedures behind the pursuit and even the activities of the criminals.

Director Peter Berg depicts the horrific event with electrifying skill and maintains the tension throughout the search, which includes several potent action sequences. The continual drone in the soundtrack by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross helps keep the pressure up.

The cast is uniformly outstanding with Wahlberg exploring new emotional depths in his best screen performance yet. Not only is this a riveting, suspenseful police procedural, it takes an empowering patriotic stance that ultimately yields a moving final message.