Traque à Boston

While there are predictable social media conspiracy theories that the "whole thing was a hoax", the two bombs that went off near the finish line of the Boston marathon on April 15th 2013 killed three members of the public and injured more than 250 others. It was a life- changing event for those people and their immediate families, but sadly nothing more than a small footnote in the global story of car bombs and suicide missions that have killed and maimed thousands and thousands of people in war-stricken countries around the world in recent years. It's a point not lost on the scriptwriters of "Patriot's Day", the new film by Peter Berg ("Deepwater Horizon"). In an America where press freedom seems to be under increasing threat, the film refreshingly provides room for reflecting the antagonists' views, twisted and barking as they may be, and the film is better for that.

Mark Wahlberg ("Deepwater Horizon", "Ted") plays senior Boston homicide cop Tommy Saunders. He's on menial duties after a past indiscretion, but has just one last day stewarding the finish line of the Boston marathon before being allowed off the 'naughty step' by his boss, Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodson). Saunders is seen off to work by his wife (Michelle Monaghan, Mrs. Hunt from the Mission Impossible films) but his dull day's work is not going to go as planned thanks to the fanatical Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze) and his compliant but bullied brother Dzhokhar (Alex Wolff). The pair plant the bombs along Boylston Street, wreaking havoc on American soil, and a massive man-hunt ensues that will see other lives impacted irrevocably before it's over.

The storytelling is reminiscent of 70's films like "Airport" and "The Towering Inferno" in introducing us to a wide range of characters at the start of the film, without knowing how they will later be placed into the jigsaw. Examples are Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash", "La La Land") of the Watertown police department who gets unexpectedly drawn into the action when chaos descends on his sleepy Boston neighborhood, and Chinese student Dun Meng (Jimmy O. Yang in a film debut) who has an unbelievable story of first-hand contact with the bombers.

Leading the FBI investigation is Richard DesLauriers (the prolific Kevin Bacon). Unfortunately I always muddle up Bacon with Wahlberg (it must be something about the facial features) so it's not helpful having them in the same film!

Even though I knew (albeit vaguely) all of the details of the bombing and the subsequent events, the film successfully made me feel tense throughout. Some of the set-piece action sequences – particularly the showdown in Watertown – are particularly well done. Given the number of rounds of ammo let off and the home-made grenades being lobbed, it is astounding that dozens of officers were not killed. The film is highly respectful towards the victims of the atrocity, with one of the most moving moments of the film being a silent vigil over one of the victims by a State Trooper (Billy Donahue).

Wahlberg in particular gives a great performance, with his emotional post-traumatic breakdown scene with Monaghan being his best acting performance in years. However, it is Wahlberg's character that is my major problem with the film. Unlike most of the other characters, who are based on their real-life counterparts, Tommy Saunders is a fictional composite of multiple real-life police officers, and his involvement in each and every part of the drama strained credibility to breaking point for me. It would have been far more effective, in my view, to stick nearer to reality and have a range of other cameos step into those roles.

There is a tendency (for this British viewer at least) for the film to overreach with its stirring patriotic message in the closing scenes, and there was the predictable trotting out of the 'real life' photos and videos in the finale, albeit that some of these are movingly portrayed. Apart from those reservations, this is a solidly well-made piece of docufiction that is enjoyable throughout.

Just a warning to sensitive viewers that there are obviously some scenes of bodily injury included: if grading on as scale where "Hacksaw Ridge" is a 10 and "Saving Private Ryan" an 8, then "Patriot's Day" would rate about a 7.

(For the graphical version of this review, and to comment on it, please visit bob-the-movie-man.com).

Start to finish it keeps you going right up to the end

Was never fully sure about the movie. Very iffy only because I find it weird how so many movies about real life stories are about relatively recent events. The marathon bomber happen three years ago, that seems like such little time to make a narrative about history.

Despite this, it was a great police drama. It showed law enforcement coming together for the greater good and it was a beautiful image to see, cause in most police dramas, cops even have discrimination upon themselves. If this was fiction, Boston PD would not be able to get along with Water Town PD and both would hate the FBI cause for some reason the tension of trying to find terrorist is not enough for writers. It was good to see cops be 100% at their job. They were not portrayed as being perfect only as being human and heroes are human. They were regular Boston citizens who wear a badge.

It was a very good story about people coming together to step up to the challenge. I expect noting less from director Peter Berg who has a real skill when it comes to bringing out every heroic moment.

The title refers to Patriots' Day, the Massachusetts state holiday on which the Boston Marathon is held. The movie begins on April 14, 2013, a day before the marathon. The next day, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonate two bombs during the Boston Marathon, causing widespread panic . A young couple, Patrick Downes (Christopher O'Shea) and Jessica Kensky (Rachel Brosnahan) , are injured and taken to separate hospitals, where they are both required to have their legs amputated. Steve Woolfenden, a family man, is also injured and separated from his toddler son, Leo, who is taken by the police to a safe location. While a stubborn police cop Tommy Sanders (Mark Walhberg , whose role is a composite of many Boston cops who worked the marathon, and aided in the manhunt following the bombing) -married to Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan)- pursues mercilessly the two terrorists. In nearby Watertown, Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (JK Simmons) also goes after the asassins. Once things have settled in the area and everyone has been cleared out, the police meet with FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Deslauriers (Kevin Bacon). The inside story of the world's greatest manhunt !. True heroes !. True strength !. From the director of Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon !. Based on true events !.

Patriots Day is a 2016 American action drama film about the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 and the subsequent terrorist manhunt , including a lot of stock footage from the actual events. Nicely directed by Peter Berg and written by Berg, Matt Cook, and Joshua Zetumer, the film is based on the book Boston Strong by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge. This thrilling and interesting movie deals with the Boston Marathon attack, the film narrates that shocking event through the story of police sergeant Tommy Sanders, a fictitious character inspired by three real police officers who intervened in the persecution carried out throughout the city to hunt down the guilty of the bloody attack, which left three fatalities and more than 260 wounded.

Mark Wahlberg produced the film along with Scott Stuber, Dylan Clark, Stephen Levinson, Michael Radutzky, Hutch Parker and Dorothy Aufiero. Principal photography began on March 29, 2016, and was conducted in New York City; Boston; Quincy, Massachusetts; Los Angeles; New Orleans; and Philadelphia , being well photograhed by director of cinematography Tobias A. Schliessler . Academy Award-winning composers and Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were hired to write the musical score for the film, composing an adequate and tense soundtrack. The motion picture was competently directed by Peter Berg, it was released in Boston, New York and Los Angeles on December 21, 2016, followed by a nationwide expansion on January 13, 2017. It received positive reviews for Berg's direction and the performances of its cast,and was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2016. Well directed by Peter Berg , Patriots day marks the third collaboration between Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg after the films Deepwater Horizon (2016) and Lone Survivor (2013), all of them based on true events. Peter Berg is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. His first role was in the Adam Rifkin road movie Never on Tuesday (1988). He went on to star in the World War 2 film A Midnight Clear (1992). Roles in Fire in the Sky (1993) and Cop Land (1997) followed, and the Tom Cruise films Collateral (2004) and Lions for Lambs (2007). Peter has since moved behind the camera, directing films such as as Very Bad Things (1998) and Hancock (2008). He has also turned pen-to-paper and scripted many projects including Friday Night Lights (2004) and The losers (2010). He is best known on-screen for his role as Dr. Billy Kronk in Chicago Hope (1994). Rating : 7/10 , better than average.

I saw this movie at a preview showing and was very pleasantly surprised.

The movie is great, the cast are uniformly excellent, and the plot moves along really nicely. I was mesmerized throughout, the pacing was excellent and, even though we all remember the outcome from the extensive news coverage, I was surprised at some of the things that happened before the end.

It was surprisingly moving at a few points, sorry, no spoilers so I won't say any more.

Great job to everyone who worked on this movie.