Good Time

Good Time is a small movie about small people doing small things. But never let it be said that it's dreary or dull. This movie somehow took the edgy anxiety of a waking nightmare, bottled it up, and put it on the screen so you'd leave the theater in a cold sweat. If the DVD/Blu-ray release of Good Time doesn't have a critic blurb saying "this movie gave me indigestion," I'll be sorely disappointed.

The setup is simple: a wanted man (Pattinson) tries to raise the money for bail to get his mentally handicapped brother (Safdie) out of prison. The two had held up a bank earlier that day and throughout the night, Connie resorts to dubious and dangerous lengths to avoid punishment and consequence.

In an interview with NPR co-director and co-star Benny Safdie said "We wanted to deliver a piece of pulp that actually felt dangerous." With that in mind cinematographer Sean Price Williams shot on 35mm and much of the movie is loaded with claustrophobic close-ups and delirious hand-held sweeps. The 35mm film bleeds into the New York nocturne. The punishing fluorescents and neon glints that makeup the movie's milieu taunts our protagonist as he spins his wheels round and round. It's a movie that recaptures the intimacy and intensity of a 4am sneak-about.

Even in calmer moments, the film pulses in its nervy desperation. The various innocents the come across Connie's path are more-or-less looking for the same thing, a way out of the mess. They approach their situations with variant levels of legality but never with Pattinson's level of sleaze or sense of entitlement. Despite this, Connie proves remarkably resourceful; one minute his back is up against a corner, the next he's clawed his way out and slumping towards the next hurdle of his odyssey. One can't help but think that if Connie put his mind towards anything other than crime, he'd be on the cover of a business magazine.

Instead he's in an unending fever dream whereby the urban sprawl is the water to his drowning rat. At its height, Good Time has the sparseness and clarity of a John Steinbeck novel and at its most pedestrian it still has the chaotic energy of The 25th Hour (2002).

If I could ever experience what it's like to be a neon light inside a crowded nightclub, I imagine it would feel a lot like watching Good Time.

This movie exudes intensity, electricity, and neonicity (not a real word, just roll with it). The opening scene provides the movie's blandest color scheme, but it's serious and compelling and important, so pay attention.

From there, the movie leaps fearlessly into a techno blasting, adrenaline surging, rush of mayhem and terrible decision making. Two brothers rob a bank, run from the police, and one ends up in the hospital. Then it gets worse.

Constantine (played by Robert Pattinson, in a career-making performance) lives a life of dysfunction. He struggles to maintain healthy relationships with family or friends or anyone. The one thing in his life that he's sure of is that he wants to take care of his brother, who has intellectual disabilities. He spends a majority of the film frantically (frantic accurately describes the mood for most of Good Time) attempting to save his brother from the trouble that he put him in. The problem is that Constantine can't even properly take care of himself, so helping his brother is far beyond his abilities.

Try as he may, every attempt to help backfires. Despite Constantine's good intentions, he is a powerfully negative influence in his brother's life. He sees himself as his brother's savior, but that's very far from the truth.

It's tempting to sympathize with Constantine. He has real moments of decency. But just when you may think this isn't such a bad guy, he showcases another instance of unsavory behavior. That seems to be the story of his life—fleeting moments of hope, followed by swift slaps of grim reality that are mostly brought on by his own doing.

In the end, his brother, Nick, becomes the more likable character. We want what is best for Nick, just like Constantine does. Because of this shared goal, I want Constantine to succeed. I have never rooted harder for a character that I didn't really want to root for. That's all because of Nick.

Since this is sounding deeply dramatic, let me reiterate, this isn't a plodding sob story. The frantic pace, ludicrously rousing music and color scheme will make your eyes bug out and your hair stand up. Actually, you may literally stand up at certain moments because of the intensity.

See Good Time if you're up for an intense crime thriller. Just don't forget to think while watching. There's more to this movie than neon and techno.

Connie (Robert Pattinson) and Nick (Benny Safdie) are low-life brothers in NYC who attempt to rob a bank so that they can buy a farm in Virginia. Things don't go well, and Nick, who is mentally handicapped, gets arrested. Connie then begins a night-long odyssey to try and get his brother free while avoiding the cops himself, running into an assortment of fringe characters along the way. Also featuring Buddy Duress, Taliah Webster, Barkhad Abdi, Peter Verby, Robert Clohessy, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Filmed in a gritty manner with over-saturated colors and a relentless electronic score, once this movie gets started it becomes an adrenaline-fueled marathon of tense situations, with Pattinson's character consistently asked to make split-second decisions that go wrong as often as right. I consider Robert Pattinson one of the least impressive movie stars to have sprung up in the last decade, but he acquits himself well here, grungy, desperate and vulpine. All of the supporting characters are believable, although largely unsavory. I wasn't quite as impressed with the end result as some critics, as I felt that the story stumbled to an unsatisfying conclusion, and nothing really added up to much, with events virtually ending where they began. That may have been the filmmakers point, but the majority of the film is a tense journey that crime film fans should enjoy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film on several levels. The acting, direction and story line were all done extremely well. It was original and there is an element of commitment of love through the forced negative acts of the desperate protagonist.

I also have to say I enjoyed the psychedelic score which worked well with the pace of the film. Last, I grew up in the neighborhood much of the film is shot in so I am somewhat biased. This, however, is not what makes the film so good.

Pattinson is brilliant as the Big brother trying to make a better life for himself and his learning disabled brother. A bank robbery they attempt goes wrong and the remainder of the film is an attempt to recover his brother from a hospital after getting caught and beat up in jail.

I won't give any more away but have to say the film is thought provoking, exciting and fast paced. I also felt it was quite realistically done in the way each character plays their parts.

The only thing I found annoying was the credits ran into 22+ minutes of the film. Otherwise, a tremendous effort and success for the Safdie Brothers.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Good Time" (2017) is one of the more involving movies I've seen in some time now. This is a good thrill ride from start till finish. It has a very good directing, good and involving script, great performances and great pacing. The movie is pretty brutal, but its not a blood fest. It has a simple premise and keeps on to it till the end.

Overall, i really enjoyed "Good Time" for its all 1 h 38 min run time. It never dragged and i was very involved into this story superbly told. Very good movie on all accounts.