Patriots Day

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, J.K. Simmons, John Goodman, and Kevin Bacon
Directed by: Peter Berg
Screenplay by: Peter Berg and Matt Cook

      This is the story of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the events that followed, including the city-wide manhunt for the terrorists responsible.
      The film jumps right into the story without too much exposition.  Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) is perhaps the character we get to know best.  He is a police officer in Boston who has had some trouble on the force in the past.  He is not the most respected guy in the police department, but on the day of the marathon, he has an important job to do.  He is stationed near the finish line when the bombs go off, making him one of the first responders.  In the aftermath, he and the rest of Boston PD have to work with the FBI to find the men responsible, the Tsarnaev brothers.
      Berg and Wahlberg have worked together on a number of films before this, including Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon.  Both films, like Patriots Day, are based on true stories.  Wahlberg is excellent as usual in films like this.  In those other films, the story has been centered around Wahlberg's character, whereas Patriots Day is less focused on Saunders.  The film's main purpose is to tell a story of a terrible tragedy in a way that people will remember it the way it should be remembered.
       The film shows much of what we saw on the news in the wake of these events, but also much of what was behind the scenes.  It shows the complexity of these situations as well as the difficulty of inter-agency investigations.  More importantly, it shows the unity of the city of Boston in the aftermath of this tragedy, and the unity of America as well.  But perhaps the most important thing the film does for viewers is show the human aspect of it.  The victims and survivors for many are just names, but this film tells a little about who they are and a little about their story.  It gives the history of these events a more human aspect, making it seem all the more real.  This is the film's most powerful aspect, and one of Peter Berg's strengths as a director.

      I give Patriots Day a B+.

Image Source: screenrant.com