A thriller of historic value.
Patriots Day
Grade: B+
Director: Peter Berg (Lone Survivor)
Screenplay: Berg, Matt Cook (The Duel), Joshua Zetumer (RoboCop, 2014)
Cast: Mark Wahlberg (Fighter), Michelle Monaghan (Source Code)
Rating: R
Runtime: 133 min
by John DeSando
“Terrorists are not following Islam. Killing people and blowing up people and dropping bombs in places and all this is not the way to spread the word of Islam. So people realize now that all Muslims are not terrorists.” Muhammad Ali
The Boston Marathon bombing, just about 4 years ago in April ’13, is close enough in time to give a special burden of proof to director Peter Berg and the crew in their Patriots Day because we remember. It does them well, a carefully calibrated docudrama that gives a sense of the chaos on that day while not overdoing the sentimental afterthoughts.
Although the genre demands a preface to the main action with introductions for some of the heroes and victims, this segment is usually the slowest as it is here. Boston police officer Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg—always blue-collar Boston reliable and here fictional) says goodbye to wife, Carol (Michelle Monaghan in the usually thankless role of awaiting spouse), and we say hello, albeit too superficially, to a variety of sub-characters including the brother jihadists, Dzhikhar (Alex Wolff) and Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze).
This story becomes exciting as the variety of local and national investigative agencies zero in on the perps, using captured video from stores and phones to eventually spy the radical Islamists. The cut backs to their home life are modest, depicting play with the kids, eating, and arguing. This minimalism is especially effective as it contrasts with the world-class havoc they impose at the marathon.
Exactly why the brothers commit mayhem is by inference only, namely that the radical Islamic force is with them. Why younger assimilated brother is in the thrall of older brother is never clear, and the presence of a larger organization is not revealed. Maybe all the better to universalize the evil.
As in most of these docudramas, the coda calls for philosophizing (consider the ending of Sully, for instance), and Tommy’s voiceover about good and evil, love and hate fills the requirement. The generalization about love being the remedy for the terror is trite yet affecting because I have no better answer.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
