Review of Patriots Day (2016) by Compi24 — 15 Jan 2017

It's been nearly a quarter century since director Steven Spielberg released both "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List" within the same year. Since then, only a few other directors have attempted the same feat (James Wan with "The Conjuring" and "Insidious: Chapter 2" back in 2013, David Ayer with "Sabotage" and "Fury" in 2014, Jeff Nichols with "Midnight Special" and "Loving" in 2016, etc.

) and fewer have found even an inkling of similar success in their efforts. Until now, that is. For, both "Deepwater Horizon" and - now - "Patriots' Day" remain staggeringly masterful docudramas with enough heart, respect, and intrigue to turn even the biggest skeptics (like myself) into Berg-worshippers.

With this film in particular, you get an absolutely fantastic sense of just how brave Berg can be in handling certain subjects - especially ones that are more than just fresh in everyone's heads. "Patriots' Day" stares directly into the abyss that is the 2013 Boston Marathon attack and doesn't flinch at all.

It depicts the event in all its unrelenting ugliness and brutality, whilst still staying far enough away from the realms of exploitation and bombast to convince you that this movie simply needed to happen.

It weaves universally-appealing themes of community, love, and perseverance into a superbly structured narrative that is as all-encompassing in terms of perspective as it is in scale and time. This is, all at once, a pulse-pounding thriller that showcases the valiant efforts of the authorities involved, an inspiring tear-jerker about how a community can learn to heal in the face of such tremendous adversity, and a chilling cautionary tale about the dangers of extremist thinking and indoctrination of any form.

It's one of the best of its kind and I cannot recommend it enough. Peter Berg. Thank you kindly, sir.