Patriots Day (2016)

I was surprised by how good this was. 8/10

I was also impressed by this flick. I actually avoided it for a while, being from Massachusetts and seeing this as a cash grab, exploiting real life tragedy and heroism dare I say it, 'too soon.' But it was very well done. It occasionally tried too hard to capture the Boston mindset or whatever, but even then I just rolled with it because everything else was great. Wahlberg's character provided a kind of connective tissue for the narrative so it made sense in that respect. I actually think that one scene where he's crying might be the best acting he's ever done. A low bar perhaps, but still.

I kind of chuckled at how dissimilar the actors portraying actual city/state officials looked to their real life counterparts but that's a local yokel nitpick I suppose. All in all a highly enjoyable film that takes a tragedy and reminds us how competent our agencies can be and how the courage of everyday people can make a difference.

I saw it two months ago, and although the movie was produced too soon after the attacks, it was a very good political thriller. I learned more about the people and situations involved in what led up to Tamerlan Tsarnev's death. Mark Wahlberg's character being at every stage from the bombing to the final arrest was very contrived.