By Tanmay Shukla
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Amid a calamity it is easier to get occupied in the higher priority task of saving lives. To unearth stories from such sensitive situation gives us hope, strength and inspiration to persist. Patriots Day traverses through various stories of the brave citizens of Boston who displayed immense courage, their will unperturbed as they came back stronger than ever from the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. As someone rightly said in hindsight, we are not the victims of violence, but rather, we are the ambassadors of peace.
The first half of Patriots Day introduces
us to a few individual stories and how they are affected by the Marathon
Bombings planned and executed by two young jihadist brothers, Tamerlan and
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The elder one, Dzhokhar, who is more radical of the two, is
married and a father of a young daughter, who prepares the explosives to be
planted inside pressure cookers. The latter half is about the cops locating and
chasing the perpetrators. I appreciate that the story unfolded in a deliberate
and elaborate manner which is why it ran for a good 15-20 minutes too long but
much of it couldn’t achieve the desired effect due to lack of a convincing and
impressionable central character which deprived the film of its humane charm. Hardly
there was a moment which was devoid of action and yet the film became sluggish
towards the middle because there wasn’t much tension and conflict to keep the
viewer on the edge of their seats. Though, it did pick up some pace towards the
end.
Mark Wahlberg as Sgt Tommy Saunders must
have been chosen for his stoic style to bring more realism which has totally backfired.
Tommy is overworked and weary but Mark Wahlberg’s portrayal makes the character
look lesser than what he actually is. For him, terrorism is the fight of the
good against the evil, a belief which drives him but the intent reflecting in
his actions is missing in his expressions. Kevin Bacon as Richard Des Lauriers,
FBI Special Agent, gives a good performance. JK Simmons too, as Jeffrey was
noticeable in his short screen time.
Peter Berg has directed and co-written
Patriots Day which is based on the book Boston Strong by Casey Sherman and Dave
Wedge. Though Peter Berg has overall directed the film well, as it features in
the top ten films of 2016 by Board of Review, it suffers from the lack of
anything standout. The editing lacked urgency and it could have been more
creative with simultaneous narration of multiple stories. Sound Mixing was done
well from which was useful during the action sequences.
In the interrogation scene, Dzhokhar’s
wife, Katherine Russell, played by Supergirl Melissa Benoist, talks about ‘submission’
towards her husband; obeying him, they will be sent to heaven in afterlife to
live together, happily. Her conviction and fervor justifies the lack of
opposition against her husband committing criminal acts in front of her eyes
even though she is educated and aware of her rights. There is another
interesting scene involving the two brothers who have jacked the car of Dun
Meng. The two brothers also get involved in silly fights like any brothers in
the world, the elder one dominating the younger who is desperate to drive the
‘benz’. It tells how these young innocent minds are misled so easily by pseudo
religious fundamentalists. Ironically, the younger brother tells Dun Meng that
he is ‘brainwashed by the media.’
Patriots Day works well as a drama which is
more of an entertaining thriller rather than a documentation of the unfortunate
incident. There is action and explosions to keep the action-thriller genre fans
interested, who will leave the theatre satisfied.
Rating: 6/10
Rating: 6/10
Patriots Day Trailer (YouTube)
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