Writers: Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein
DOP: Sean Price Williams
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Ben Safdie, Buddy Duress, Jennifer Jason Leigh
After a heist goes awry, a bank robber spends a night trying to
free his mentally ill brother from being sent to Riker's Island prison.
Think ‘Enter the Void +
Collateral + True Romance’ with quite an unlikable protagonist- you will
get a general idea about the film. Robert Pattinson continues his great post-Twilight
form in picking good roles in good films and he plays the elder brother Connie
whose USP is that he thinks and acts very quickly even though they are not the
smartest decisions on hindsight. He is out after a spending some time in jail
(Good Time is a jail related reference) and decides to rescue his brother from
the psychiatric sessions that he is getting under the wings of their
grandmother. The opening scene which is a psychological evaluation of his
younger brother Nick, played by one of the director brothers, is riveting to
watch. Connie thinks the best thing for his brother to do is to assist him in a
small-time bank robbery operation and things don't go as planned, obviously. We
then have Connie trying to con some money of his girlfriend (Jennifer Jason
Leigh) to raise bail-bond and then trying to rescue his brother directly. He
meets a few interesting characters along the way and things just don't go as
'not' planned.
Camera movements are initially very
documentary style and later on the film is largely neon-lit. ‘Oneohtrix Point
Never’ handles the music and the closing credits was a collaboration with Iggy
Pop. Music is a big driving force in the movie as it ratchets up tension when
necessary. Film might not be up everyone's alley as the directors make no
effort in making the protagonist likable. I enjoyed it thoroughly and it defies
your expectations as there is variation in pacing throughout the film. It is
usual in films to have unlikable villain sort of characters who are quite smart
and calculating. So it was very refreshing to see someone who is not all that
smart but his quick decisions fools us into believing that he is.
Rating: 4.25/5
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