Patriot Day: A Review

           Tonight I went to see Patriot Day with my mother.  I rarely go to see films in January since they usually suck (Bye-Bye Man anyone?), but this was made by the guy who did Deepwater Horizon which was fantastic.  In short, the film was fantastic and I highly recommend it.  However, I am going to go a bit more into detail about the film in this review.  The review will be spoiler free, though I will give the basic plot.

            The film is about the Boston bombing that took place in 2013.  It follows the various individuals who were a part of it, including the FBI, the Boston Police Department, the Tsarnaev brothers who were behind it, and everyone else.  The film starts off before the bombing, shows the bombing, and shows the manhunt that brought the Tsarnaev brothers to justice.  It was actually pretty intense as we saw the bombing and everyone's reaction to it.

            One of the things that makes the film interesting was the tone.  It's set in the real world and all the people in it act like real humans.  This juxtaposes very well with the intense bombing scene or the pure lack of empathy the Tsarnaev brothers seem to possess towards other humans.  It makes the intense scenes all the more disturbing and the quieter moments all the more real and emotional.  This was a tone the director set in Deepwater Horizon so he sets it very well.

            The humanity is definitely effective in this film.  Everyone seems very human which makes the characters all the more believable.  It also makes the Tsarnaev brothers all the creepier.  Dzhokhar was a college student and Tamerlan was married with a wife and kid.  The fact that they're normal humans and yet capable of such horror is disturbing.

            It also makes the bombings all the worse.  Though not all the victims are focused on, you genuinely feel bad about those who died or lost their limbs.  However, the motivations of the main characters is all the more believable as you fully understand their reactions to the bombing.  Meanwhile, the joys of the film are far more enjoyable as you see the city come together to support the police, the cops reflect on their jobs, and the survivors overcome the pain they've faced.  It's a very enjoyable film for these reasons.

            Lastly, the acting is really good.  It has Kevin Bacon, Mark Wahlberg, Tom Goodman, and J. K. Simmons so that's not surprising.  However, each actor gives a great performance that fits with the tone of the film.  Each one is believable in their role.  In the end, this film really works.

            As a side note, I do enjoy some of the modern politicians being portrayed in the film.  I'm a political science major so seeing something relevant to my field of interest is always appreciated.  The film did have former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and the then mayor of Boston Thomas Menino.  However, this is irrelevant to the film itself since this subject would naturally have them.  Nevertheless, I still enjoyed it.

            Overall, it was a highly enjoyable film.  I still preferred Deepwater Horizon, but that might just be I prefer the story.  Peter Berg did a fantastic job and I eagerly await his next film.  Really, it was a great film made by great people.  Definitely one you should see!