Review #880: Live By Night (2016)

Title: Live By Night
Year: 2016
Director: Ben Affleck
Country: US
Language: English

An astounding adaptation of author Dennis Lehane’s best-selling novel about Boston private detectives, Gone Baby Gone would be the directorial debut of then fallen actor Ben Affleck. He would go on to make The Town (2010), which would receive some acclaim, and Argo in 2012. This third feature, which was about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, would go on to receive an Academy Award for Best Picture at that year's Oscars. Would his fourth feature, Live By Night, make similar waves? Lets see.

Affleck plays Joe Coughlin, the son of an irish cop, who returns from WWI with a lost sense of morality. He is then enlisted into the Boston mob as a foot soldier carrying out nefarious deeds.

Fans of noir features will probably link Affleck's Live By Night (2016) to Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night (1948) based off title alone. I tried to find some thematic connections, but the only similarities are shallow; both fulfill the genre of crime/gangster pictures. The amount of plot in Affleck's film is suitable for Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990), but unlike that crime saga this one is a little too fast paced. It's hard to keep up with everything going on. If you miss 10 minutes of the picture you might as well restart the entire film because you won't understand what's happening. 

The character's aren't fleshed out and many plot points go unresolved, seemingly because the Director forgot about it. Live By Night isn't all bad however; the cinematography is stunning, Afleck's mise en scene makes you feel like you're infused with the film's setting, the costuming is terrific and the score adds to the film noir atmosphere. 

Visually Live By Night is a stunning film that would deserve very high praise, if not for the writing and lack of character development. Affleck has made a very rushed feature that would probably have faired well if it was extended by another hour. Perhaps a director's cut will be released on home video that will make up for what I've just reviewed.