Patriots Day: Review

Patriots Day is directed by Peter Berg and stars Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman and Kevin Bacon. It tells the horrific story of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and how the police and FBI mounted a  desperate manhunt to capture the bombers. 

In classic Berg style (following his most recent work Deepwater Horizon) he takes a notorious event and creates an incredible drama, skilfully avoiding making a sensational action film. Patriots Day shows us again that Berg is extremely gifted in creating films that are more for reflection than simply for enjoyment. Beautifully thrilling and suspenseful, the film starts off with a striking style of cinematography, filmed like  tv rather than a feature length movie. This may be an acquired taste to some, however as the film goes on you understand Berg's directorial concept for the film, feeling up close and personal with the characters and the breathtaking street shots of downtown Boston.

Tear-jerking from start to to finish, Patriots Day shows us the scarily realistic threat to our streets. Extremely versatile, the film prides itself on allowing the audience to feel an array of different emotions. You feel truly powerless with the weight of the film laying on you. The majority of these conflicted feelings are driven by the stunning performances from the entire cast. The young and wonderfully sickening Alex Wolff played the film's antagonist, who truly brought out the hatred within us.

The film's lead Wahlberg performed just as excellently as he did in Deepwater Horizon,  showing us a different, more broken side whilst caught in the middle of the tragic events. We see all of this running around his head just through his posture and eye movement within the line of the camera. Patriots Day doesn't just deliver as a gripping recollection but offers a gritty history lesson with all the trimmings. Suspenseful throughout, as we see the build up to the event and the aftermath, a few jokey one liners are scarcely yet perfectly slipped into dialog adding more of a human feel to the characters and their reactions to everything happening around them. 

In the end, Patriots Day is a fantastic piece of film that offers much. Sensitively handled and deeply tense, with a Marmite type 'love it or hate it' style of filming, the film wow's its way into audiences minds

Gritty, heartbreaking and traumatic, I am going to give Patriots Day:

8.5/10