‘Live By Night’ is Ben Affleck’s latest directorial
effort. Based on Dennis Lehane’s novel, it further extends Affleck’s
skills behind the camera. He also appears as well as writing the
screenplay. This multi-tasking ensures he either lives or dies by what he
presents. Set in the 1920’s American prohibition era where gangs battled
out for their slice of illegal pie, it potentially gives plenty for Affleck to
sink his teeth into. Unfortunately ‘Live by Night’ isn’t his best even if
it highlights Affleck’s flair for stunning visuals.
In 1926, Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) decides to make a name
for himself. Despite being the son of a noted police captain, his eyes
initially turn to petty crime. Working his way up the local Boston gangs,
he quickly climbs the ladder of illicit success. Enjoying the profits and
lifestyle of his ill-gotten gains, Joe revels in the fast notoriety he has
gained. Such things come at a price with rival gangs targeting Joe’s
activities. Events escalate as Joe searches a way to handle his empire
before things turn more deadly.
‘Live by Night’ is the least of Affleck’s directorial
work. Muddled, unfocused with a script lacking in emotional depth, it
doesn’t have much going for it. Joe’s efforts at establishing his empire
and living by a skewed moral code promises much with little delivered. Events
are quickly shown so to go to the next action set-piece. This dilutes
much of the impact of the source material despite Affleck’s capable handling of
the gun-fights.
The cast is generally wasted in the poor character-driven
theatrics ‘Live by Night’ offers. It proves the adage that an actor is
only good as the material given. Sadly what they have isn’t much.
The major saving grace is the gorgeous locations and wonderful cinematography
capturing the beauty and danger Joe constantly faces. Fans of gangster
epics will have seen it done better before with Affleck seemingly confused
about what type of movie he wants to make.
Everyone has their off days with ‘Live by Night’ giving
Affleck a rare low grade. It’s by no means awful but it isn’t great
either. It fails to register as anything much with Affleck’s upcoming
duties as Batman hopefully giving him the confidence to try again at being a
silver screen shining star.
Movie Review Rating out of 10: 5
Movie Review by Patrick Moore
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