Good Time Review

R: for language throughout, violence, drug use, and sexual content

A24

1 Hr and 40 Minutes

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ben Safdie, Barkhad Abdi, Buddy Duress

INTRO: Well somebody out there once again thinks Robert Pattinson has the ability to act. I’m sorry, but we have sat through all five Twilight films, Remember Me, and Cosmopolis. I know of other movies where Pattinson was passable, but the project itself was terrible such as Bel Ami. But now in the wonderful year of 2017, the Safdie Brothers surprised audiences at Cannes with this film Good Time. Of course, it did well at Cannes because those people pretty much easily eat up anything. Now it's getting released in the USA but will we perceive  Pattinson as the great actor many hoped he’ll be? 

After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Constantine embarks on a twisted odyssey through the city's underworld in an increasingly desperate attempt to get his brother out of jail. Over the course of one night, Constantine finds himself on a mad descent into violence and mayhem as he races against the clock to save his brother and himself, knowing their lives hang in the balance.

THE GOOD: Robert Pattinson has come a long way from being the sparklingly pale vampire from Twilight. Granted it took him several tries to get a decent flick, he has finally found a film that not only he's great in but also great overall. Pattinson gives an unrecognizable performance of a lifetime. Throughout the entire film, I never had the thought or reminder that this guy running around NY is Robert Pattinson. If you were to go in cold, you would think this guy is Colin Farrell. The man looks and acts like Colin Farrell. From his hairstyle, his mannerisms, his expressional pupils, and eyebrows.  It is not that Pattinson’s performance is one of the best I’ve seen this year but more of it is best of his entire career.

What the Safdie brothers did with their screenplay and their direction with him took an incredible amount of effort as it shows with his character who is a grade A bullshitter. The character he plays is such a con man that his name is literally Connie. It might as well be his supervillian name; Connie the Con Man who wields the unlimited power of bullshit. This guy is a manipulative, liar, thief, criminal, user, abuser, but God forbid anyone bad mouths his mentally disabled brother. Though he treats anyone he interacts with like they’re a waste of space, Connie spends the entire film to get his incarcerated brother out of the hospital. The love he has for his brother is far much stronger than the love Edward had for Bella, and that's saying…….something.

One of the best things about a Good Time is how much it has the nostalgic feel to a 20th-century  caper by the many twists and turns the story takes. There are so many elements that catch both off guard and by surprise in the most enjoyable way how. One of the surprises is Buddy Duress who is an actor who in fact was once a Rikers Island inmate playing a guy who just came out of Rikers Island. The tries brothers have used him in their previous film before this, but this lets him shine for he is the comic relief of the movie. Not to give much away, but one of the biggest twists of the film is the reveal of Duress’ character. He is the bumbling fool you see in movies of this genre, and he’s entertaining to watch from beginning to end. 

Another thing that makes you reminisce about the nostalgic feel is the music provided by Oneohtrix Point Never. There are three films of this year so far that made me appreciate film score, and those are The Lovers, Dunkirk, and now this. With OPN, not only does he play with different percussion instruments and sounds, but he incorporates a lot of techno synthesizer to the majority of the film.

THE BAD: Out the many things this film excels at, one of the biggest things that irked me throughout the entire film is its representation of black people. By representation, I don’t mean any of the black people in this are shucking and jiving but more like every black person in this, is either taken advantage of and/or abused. The film has Academy Award nominated actor Barkhad Abdi (you know the guy that goes),

And in this, he’s there to get his ass handed to him only to get racially profiled because that is the norm now in America. The man is only in the movie for 5 minutes, and all this happens to him, and all I feel is uncomfortableness, but It's not only him though.

There is also a newcomer named Taliah Webster, and she gives a fine performance. To be honest, I didn’t even think her performance was a performance for the brothers just recruited a Caribbean teenage girl and told her to be herself. Though her dynamic with Pattinson gets a bit Trainspotting type creepy, she is also taken advantage for as well with the same outcome as Abdi because of Connie.  It pisses me off the way this happens in favor of our lead. The film doesn’t want you to root for Connie but instead wants you to go on this rollercoaster ride around Elmhurst, but at that point, you just detest the dude and hope all negative outcomes happen because of this.

LAST STATEMENT: Good Time is an aesthetically nostalgic crime thriller with a career changing performance by Pattinson and an effective direction from the Safdie brothers. 

Rating: 3.5/5 | 78%

Super Scene: Ray’s story.