REVIEW #158 Good Time

This crime thriller is directed by Benny and Josh Safdie and centres around Connie, a man who is trying to break his brother Nick, a mentally handicapped individual, out of jail after the pair of them had recently robbed a bank together. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Robert Pattison leads the film as Connie and it’s another example of why he is one of the best working actors today. His performance is fantastic and he pretty much carries the film. Good Time looks like it was a very demanding role, his character is the main focal point and he was in pretty much every scene, so he had to show the audience every side of his character. Connie’s persona changed with each person he come into contact with and Pattison absolutely nailed it each time, delivering some fantastic duologues with a variety of costars. Benny Safdie plays his brother Nick and he portrays someone who is mentally handicapped extremely well and the performance was very convincing. The acting across the entire cast was actually pretty good, it is a film where the performances are very much the centre piece of the film. 

THE STORYLINE

Essentially the premise is two brothers rob a bank and one is arrested in the process, which leaves Connie to try and get his brother out of jail at any cost. However there are a couple of interesting sub plots chucked in to spice things up and give an edge to the storyline. The main thing being the fact that Nick is mentally handicapped, something Connie addresses in the film. This provides an interesting character arc for Connie because we start the film believing he would do anything for his brother and he only wants what’s best for him and towards the end of the film it’s clear Nick is better off without him. The directors and writers symbolise this by having every character that Connie comes into contact with, always being much worse off after the fact. I won’t go into specific details so I don’t spoil anything for those who haven’t seen it. The plot is also very chaotic, whilst also being very intimate at the same time. This is because the scale of the scenes are all kept very small, usually only involving one or two people and this allows the audience to focus solely on that particular character interaction. In regards to the chaos, that is supplied by the nature of the storyline and Connie being on the run. Unfortunately I’m just not sure if the storyline engaged me enough, I appreciated the character exploration but I found myself losing interest at times. I still can’t quite work out why that is because the pacing seemed okay and there was plenty going on too. Perhaps on a rewatch I’d have a better perspective and can work out why the plot just didn’t resonate with me. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

The cinematography was excellent, you could tell from the first scene that it had a unique look to it and I believe that is because they filmed on a 35mm cinescope and that classic film creates a beautiful aesthetic. Often used by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Nolan and JJ Abrahams! The use of colour was so prevalent throughout the entire film, using bursts of blue and red but originating from natural sources such as shop windows or amusement parks. The camera work was also clearly well thought out, I noticed a particular focus on facial close ups which was good because Robert Pattinson used his expressions incredibly well, showing the desperation of his character and how that worsened over the course of the film. No special effects to mention but the cinematography was fantastic.

OVERALL (8.3/10)

Good Time is a classic example of an incredibly well made film, the cinematography provided a beautiful aesthetic and Robert Pattinson is excellent. Unfortunately there was just something about the storyline that just didn’t engage me, I found myself losing interest at times and I can’t quite work out why that was. All things considered the plot itself includes in depth character exploration and has a perfect blend of chaos and intimacy to creat a great storyline. But despite that it just didn’t resonate with me, I can appreciate it for sure but perhaps not my cup of tea. I believe this capped the score a little bit, it’s still a perfectly respectable score and I would imagine Good Time would sit comfortably in the 9’s for most audiences so I would definitely recommend giving it a go. 

Thanks for reading.

Callan