Directed By: Safdie Brothers
Directing – 9
The Safdie Brothers direction with this film is really good. I thought the pacing was nice and the structure of the film was done well. My only flaw with their direction is introducing this character and having this character become a part of the story, it felt like an odd and arguably unnecessary creative choice (For me at least).
Cinematography – 10
The cinematography is really good, it captures the feeling the directors tried to capture with the story they were trying to tell. The film feels very nasty and kind of rugged. It has a bit of a “Collateral” type vibe to it as well. I thought the cinematography was a nice choice made by the directors.
Score – 10
The score is good, it definitely gives off the vibe that is needed for the film.
Story – 8
The story follows Connie Nikas who after he and his brother tried to rob a bank has to attempt to free his brother from prison after he is caught by the Police. In simple terms, the story is about a man who genuinely cares about his brother. The protagonist is Robert Pattinson’s character (Connie Nikas), is very much a dick. Which is actually a very interesting creative choice. This film is very much about him the person he currently is attempting to free his brother, that’s it. So the character is very flawed. There’s a possibility that many people can very much understand him as a character, maybe. Also, he isn’t the smartest person in the world, so he makes some pretty odd choices. Again, it is within his character to make these strange choices, you don’t necessarily agree with him. But hopefully, you understand why he makes certain choices. However, some of the choices he makes are a flaw I have with the story. He makes very odd idiotic choices which makes sense; however, he makes these incredibly bright choices that make me question some of his more mindless choices, so at times it didn’t always link up with his character, at least the way I saw it. I will also say there is this character that is introduced and I felt that we didn’t need this character and we stay in their house for a good amount of time, it could have been different. Those are my flaws with the film. Overall, the story is pretty good.
Acting – 10
The acting is really good, everyone gives great performances and definitely gives off the vibe that they are in this particular environment. Especially Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie did excellent in their roles.
Post-Production – 10
The editing is done really well, it helps with the tension building. The look, the vibe, and the music felt right for the film.
Entertainment – 9
From an entertainment perspective, it’s pretty good, the film does not feel slow and it is paced extremely well. The film is overall well crafted. I will say the house sequence is iffy, I didn’t care too much about a specific character that was introduced, and it does have a strange twist. I felt a few choices could have been different overall. Other than that, the film is pretty good.
Final Rating
9.2/10 – Really good and under appreciated film.
