Patriots Day **** (2016, Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon, John Goodman, J K Simmons, Alex Wolff, Michelle Monaghan) – Movie Review

Patriots Day is strong, gripping, rousing real-life thriller stuff, vibrantly telling story of the 15 April 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath.

Mark Wahlberg makes a very good, everyman hero as police officer Sgt Tommy Saunders, who just happens to be on security duty on the annual Boston Marathon.

Wahlberg may be the star but it is an ensemble piece and Kevin Bacon (as FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers), John Goodman (as Commissioner Ed Davis) and  J K Simmons (as the wry-humoured, heavy smoking Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese) are outstanding as co-stars.

Peter Berg’s work as both director and co-writer is rock-solid excellent. Berg writes the screenplay with Matt Cook and Joshua Zetumer.

It is nail biting stuff as the police and the FBI work together under state Governor Deval Patrick (Michael Beach) on the city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists responsible for the homemade bombs –  the Tsarnaev brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan (Alex Wolff and Themo Melikidze) – before they move on to strike in New York City.

It is a slight shame that Michelle Monaghan is wasted in a nothing role as Wahlberg’s wife Carol, just like Kate Hudson was in Wahlberg and Berg’s last film together, Deepwater Horizon (2016). But Patriots Day, by the way, is a far superior film.

It is powerful material, R rated for strong violence, realistically graphic injury images, strong language throughout and some drug use. It is the sort of movie that could attract awards and Oscar nominations – but there aren’t any.

Personally feeling the project strongly, Wahlberg hails from Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Movie Review

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com