Review of Patriots Day (2016) by Mark F — 09 Apr 2017

This was gripping. The way it feeds characters into your frame of reference seems odd at first, and as though its unnecessarily slowing down the thrust of the narrative. But then as the story unfolds you begin to see how they all play their part.

Weirdly, since Wahlberg's character is the centre of the story, he is the most disposable. He just acts as a guide really, taking us to key moments so that we can watch them unfold, but without ever really playing a pivotal role himself - except for when he calls out the CCTV cameras from memory.

There are tough scenes of horror, mixed in with what I assume are real life images. The acting was all superb. I thought the guys who played the two jihadi brothers were incredibly believable. They came across as real humans rather than caricatures. The tensions within the FBI about initially not wishing to admit publicly that it was an Islamic act of terror was interesting. The interviews with the real people at the end was a classy touch. And the overriding emotion at the end was just how futile and brainless terrorism really is. Which isn't a bad takeaway.