Vivir de noche

"Live By Night" sees star Ben Affleck back in the director's chair for the 4th time, his previous directorial offerings being "Gone Baby Gone", "The Town", and best picture winner "Argo", and sadly, it's easily his worst. "Live By Night" boasts a wonderful cast, stunning cinematography, and enthralling action set pieces but lacks any emotional weight or an interesting story, it's your usual by the numbers gangster flick about tough guys in over-sized suits blasting each other with Tommy guns and stabbing each other in the back. "Live By Night" is not a bad film by any means but is a forgettable entry in the gangster film genre and a disappointing directorial effort from Ben Affleck.

I went to the theater to watch a Gangster/Mafia movie, and I got one. Mafia movies are by far my favorite type of movie. Live by Night delivered that 1920's gangster look. Ben Affleck does an amazing Irish Mafia member persona. The story was very moving and the characters were likable. There was just enough action in the movie. The tommy gun fight scenes felt like a real 1920's gang shoot out. Live by Night shows a true gangster movie look. Most Mafia movies rely on the story to make their movie good. Live by Night uses action and an amazing story. I had a little trouble with keeping up with the names of the characters but later on I started memorizing their names. Defiantly go see this movie if your a gangster/mafia movie fan. Live by Night will not disappoint you.

Ben Affleck returns to Dennis Lehane's work with this adaptation of Live By Night, the second novel in a trilogy (starting with The Given Day and finishing with World Gone By). Live By Night is a gangster epic which follows the rise to power of Joe Coughlin, a young Boston criminal who ends up running an empire in Florida for the Italian mob. As with The Town and Argo, Affleck casts himself in the leading role and is joined by an impressive supporting cast including Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, Robert Glenister, Chris Cooper and Brendan Gleeson.

The film begins with Coughlin, as the narrator, introducing himself as a veteran who has returned disillusioned from WW1 to the extent that he refuses to follow rules or take orders from anybody. As such, he now considers himself an outlaw. We see him and his crew embark on daring robberies, including a poker game ran by one of Boston's major gangsters, Albert White (played with menacing vigour by Glenister) whose moll is having an affair with Coughlin. As repercussions ensue, Coughlin reluctantly takes on a job for White's mob rivals who send him to Ybor City, Florida, in order to take over their rum import enterprise during the prohibition era. Despite initial protestations that he is not a gangster, does not want to be wedded to the mob or have to take orders from anyone, he eventually concedes to his circumstances and his need for revenge against White, and so quickly sets about establishing his presence, authority and power across Southern Florida. In doing so, he finds love, friendship and enemies as he encounters the wrath of various strands of the Florida populous, ranging from the devoutly religious to the KKK, who take umbrage with his diverse business and personal relations. Naturally, events head toward a bloody and violent showdown.

As an addition to the gangster genre, Live By Night certainly has a uniqueness to it. Thanks to the Florida setting, there is a notable feel and style to the film. Whereas the typical gangster movie might be set in dark and claustrophobic city locations such as Chicago, New York, Detroit or Boston, the story here is told against sun-soaked, colourful and expansive scenery which provides a sense of heat so stifling that it can almost be felt coming through the screen. The film also boasts some sumptuous scenery, particularly of the Florida glades, whilst the early 20th Century town-life of Ybor City really comes to life thanks to excellent design, costumes and vibrant music. It was interesting, too, to see a gangster film based during the prohibition era which told its story from the perspective of the suppliers of the alcohol, rather than the city-based recipients. Additionally, the ethnic diversity of the characters form a foundation for the depiction of the racism that was so prevalent in the southern United States during this period, and this gives Live By Night a distinctiveness within the genre.

Unfortunately, whilst Affleck has proved himself to be a superb director, this is by far his weakest effort. Hastily cut and edited, the first act in particular chops and changes scenes with such frenetic pace and frequency one could be forgiven for feeling queasy with motion sickness. This may very well be a conscious decision by Affleck, as Coughlin's voice-over thankfully helps provide some degree of constructive narrative, but as a result any provision of context, plot or character development feels completely overlooked; an issue that lingers throughout the film. Too much feels glossed over and rushed, with relationships suddenly formed and underdeveloped, whilst character motivations and intentions are under-explored and largely ignored.

Lehane's novel does not suffer from the same issues and therefore the source material cannot be blamed here. Indeed, we are introduced to Coughlin in the first novel, The Given Day, and his character, relationships, background, grievances and drive are detailed thoroughly. With Affleck's film, he introduces us to Coughlin midway through the character's reality and doesn't bother to lay a foundation for him. As a result, Coughlin's relationship with his high-ranking police officer father is barely covered, whereas Lehane uses this as one of the core influences behind his intention to live a life of crime. In the film, Coughlin says how he mourns for a lost love, but this is not something we actually get to see. Again, Lehane uses this as a key impetus for his character. Affleck's Coughlin, a petty criminal, insists on not becoming a gangster, yet hits the ground running the second he arrives in Florida setting up the empire. There are various other examples which all highlight how the events within Affleck's film are mostly conceived out of pure convenience.

Compounding this sense of underdevelopment and hastiness is an infuriating lack of any indication of how much time is passing throughout the story. At one point towards the end of the film, Coughlin refers to a girl who died in 1927, and this just highlighted the fact that, aside from references to US Presidents and the end of prohibition, there is nothing to suggest when these events are taking place or indeed how long they are taking.

It's frustratingly poor storytelling, especially when considering the strength and quality of the source material. Combined with Affleck being so prominent in his leading role, his decision as the director to use so many facial close-ups and lingering shots of Coughlin means that Live By Night essentially feels like a self indulgence piece. Ironically, his brother Casey would arguably have made a better Coughlin and perhaps Affleck would benefit from staying behind the camera next time.

Ultimately, Live By Night is a missed opportunity. It looks fantastic, and there are some excellent action sequences including car chases and shoot-outs, but as a drama it is severely lacking in impact and finesse.

Ben Affleck's new movie could best be described as "sprawling". In both directing and writing the screenplay (based on a novel by Dennis Lehane), Affleck has aimed for a "Godfather" style gangster epic and missed: not missed by a country mile, but missed nonetheless.

Morally bankrupted by his experiences in the trenches, Joe Coughlin (Affleck) returns to Boston to pick and choose which social rules he wants to follow. Not sociopathic per se, as he has a strong personal code of conduct, but Coughlin turns to robbery walking a delicate path between the warring mob factions of the Irish community, led by Albert White (the excellent Robert Glenister from TV's "Hustle"), and the Italian community, led by Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone). Trying to keep him out of jail is his father ("Harry Potter"'s Brendan Gleeson) who – usefully – is the Deputy Police Chief. Life gets complicated when he falls in love with White's moll, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller). The scene is set for a drama stretching from Boston to the hot and steamy Everglades over a period of the next twenty years.

Although a watchable popcorn film, the choppy episodic nature of the movie is hugely frustrating, with no compelling story arc to glue all of the disparate parts together. The (often very violent) action scenes are very well done and exciting but as a viewer you don't feel invested in a 'journey' from the beginning of the film to the (unsatisfactory) ending. In my experience it's never a good sign when the writer considers it necessary to add a voice-over to the soundtrack, and here Affleck mutters truisms about his thoughts and motives that irritate more than illuminate.

The sheer volume of players in the piece (there are about three film's worth in here) and the resulting minimal screen time given to each allows no time for character development. Unfortunately the result is that you really care very little about whether people live or die and big plot developments land as rather an "oh" than an "OH!".

Affleck puts in a great turn as the autistic central character whose condition results in a cold, calculating demeanor and a complete lack of emotion reflecting on his face. Oh, hang on… no, wait a minute… sorry… I've got the wrong film…. I'm thinking about "The Accountant". I don't know whether he filmed these films in parallel. I generally enjoy Ben Affleck's work (he was excellent in "The Town") but for 95% of this film his part could have been completed by a burly extra with an Affleck mask on. In terms of acting range, his facial muscles barely get to a "2" on the scale. Given the double problem that he is barely credible as the "young man" returning mentally wounded from the trenches, then in my opinion he would have been better to have focused on the writing and directing and found a lead of the likes of an Andrew Garfield to fill Coughlin's shoes.

That's not to say there is not some good acting present in their all but brief supporting roles. Elle Fanning ("Trumbo", "Maleficent") in particular shines as the Southern belle Loretta Figgis: a religious zealot driving her police chief father (Chris Cooper, "The Bourne Identity") to distraction. Cooper also delivers a star turn as the moral but pragmatic law-man.

Sienna Miller ("Foxcatcher") delivers a passable Cork accent and does her best to develop some believable chemistry with the rock-like Affleck. Zoe Saldana ("Star Trek") is equally effective as a Cuban humanitarian.

In summary, it's sprawlingly watchable… but overall a disappointment, with Affleck over-reaching. One day we surely will get a gangster film the likes of another "Godfather", "Goodfellas" or "Untouchables". Although this has its moments, unfortunately it's more towards the "Public Enemies" end of the genre spectrum.

(For the graphical version of this review please visit bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks.)

A movie based on a novel by Dennis "Mystic River, Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone" Lehane, dealing with a revenge-seeking gangster, living in an uncomfortable nexus between Boston prohibition era gang wars, southern Floridian racial politics and revival tent religiousness. How, oh how did they screw this one up? How could they have taken a story so immediately appealing and thick with tried-and-true genre conventions exploring worthwhile themes, and turned it into a disjointed Frankenstein's monster? I'm not so much asking because I'm angry, I'm asking because I'm genuinely impressed.

Live by Night centers on the complicated machinations of Boston hoodlum Joe Coughlin (Affleck) whose small time banditry captures the attention of rival mob bosses. While Joe is Irish (and the son of a police constable), his sympathies lie more or less with Italian mob boss Maso Pescatore (Girone). He further endears himself to Pescatore after Irish mob boss Albert White (Glenister) kills Coughlin's lover (Miller) and nearly kills him if not for the interference of Boston's finest. After a stint in jail, Joe vows revenge by administrating Pescatore's interests in Tampa while choking White and his crew out of the rum trade. While doing so, Joe falls in love with a local crime bosses sister (Saldana), truces with Tampa's Police Chief (Cooper) and receives the ire of the local KKK.

Live by Night, for all its good intentions, has all the focus of a barrel of buckshot. It sprays its themes in every which way desperately hoping the audience will connect the dots with extended periods of voice over narration. When we're not forced to listen to Affleck's gravelly voiced monologues, we get to experience the actor himself, who uneasily takes the limelight by wearing his wardrobe with the color symbolism of a mood ring.

The tragedy is as a proved actor and director, Affleck should have been able to take this kind of material and make it shine like a fifty cent piece. But due to maybe the vastness of the material (or maybe Warner Bros. penchant for meddling), Affleck just seems unsure of himself both in front and behind the camera. Each scene is caked with exciting period detail yet there's no pulse, no bustle, not vibrancy to everything that's put on the screen. There are a lot of good moments in the film (many provided by Matthew Maher's deep fried racist nincompoop), but because there's such a lack of focus or tension, each moment happens in a vacuum and slowly suffocates in the void.

Live by Night feels like three great seasons of a decent cable show that's been chopped up and awkwardly smooshed together to make a highlights reel. Just like the skeleton of the casino that's being built in this film, everywhere you look there are hints of grandeur. Unfortunately that grandeur never comes and all you're left with is a great looking structure that's quickly sinking in a swamp of molasses.