Movie Review: Patriots Day

Movie review: Patriots Day

It's hard for me to believe that the Boston Marathon bombings were in April 2013, because it feels like yesterday, not almost four years ago. Patriots Day brings us a movie adaptation of the events of this day, and the consequences that occurred after it.

Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) is a Boston police officer who is essentially on probation. Because of that, his boss, Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), has him working at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. He's kind of annoyed about it, but he figures that after this, he'll be back to "full time" officer status. Once the bombings happen, however, he must work tirelessly to rescue victims and later, to find the two young adults responsible for the bombings, who are trying to get to NYC to set off more bombs.

The trailers for Patriots Day make it seem like it's a movie about Wahlberg's character, but this is really a group effort. The cast is diverse, ranging from Wahlberg and Goodman on the BPD, to J.K. Simmons as another police officer (in Watertown, MA); to Kevin Bacon as the FBI point man on the case, to Alex Wolff as one of the terrorists. Melissa Benoist (Whiplash) plays the wife of one of the terrorists, as well. Because of this, too, the movie never focused on one person or group for too long, which was both a strength and a weakness - the audience gets to see the whole picture this way, but at the same time, I would have liked more background on some of the characters, too.

Yes, see this movie, and make sure to stay until the very end - there are interviews with the real survivors of the bombings, as well as info about the upcoming bomber trial. I read a lot about the bombings when they occurred, but there were some things I didn't know about here, like the whole city of Boston being under lockdown for a day or so while the manhunt for the terrorist happened. Patriots Day is most likely a dramatized version of the events that happened that day and in the days afterwards, but it makes for a great story, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes drama/action movies.

Patriots Day is in theaters today, January 13th, and is rated R with a runtime of 133 minutes. 4.5 stars out of 5.


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