Patriot’s Day Review

Patriots Day Review

Luke Resser and Parker Lyon

Peter Berg’s new film brings together elements of action thrillers as well as historical dramas. Mark Wahlberg stars as a police officer in this film depicting the Boston Marathon bombings of  2013. While I’m not usually a fan of Walhberg’s films, he was partnered with an all-star cast including J.K. Simmons, John Goodman, and Michelle Monaghan. Mixing gritty action with intense drama, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this film. Going into it I expected it to be an overblown action film filled with Mark Walhberg’s spastic acting. However, the film was somewhat reserved in the parts that needed to be and filled with action once it really kicked off. Overall, the film impressed me by working really well as a tribute to the city of Boston.

 

While this film did feature performances from many big Hollywood names, I was kind of unimpressed with most of the acting being there was really nothing special about the performances. However, the actors who played the two terrorists (Alex Wolff playing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Themo Melikidze playing Tamerlan Tsarnaev) gave a surprisingly mature performance though they aren’t the most known of the cast. They really pulled off the cockiness and arrogance that made their characters so intriguing. Yet, the biggest problem with the film was that it was a little bit emotionally flat. It did more to tell the story than telling us about the characters. However, the action scenes were great. The intense realism of the explosions worked really well. The filmmakers didn’t pull any punches, they showed the gory aftermath in detail. Also, the shootout scenes were great, showing the insanity that erupted in the middle of a quiet Boston neighborhood.

 

All in all, I enjoyed this film a lot. I was really surprised too because I expected it to be very average. Peter Berg style of directing worked well with the story. This is actually Peter Berg’s third film with Mark Walhberg. He has previously worked with him on Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon. His style of making action-packed dramas based on true events transitioned nicely into Patriot’s Day.

3.5/5