Synopsis:
“Live by Night” is set in the roaring `20s when Prohibition hasn’t stopped the flow of booze in an underground network of gangster-run speakeasies. The opportunity to gain power and money is there for any man with enough ambition and nerve and Joe Coughlin, the son of the Boston Police Superintendent, long ago turned his back on his strict upbringing for the spoils of being an outlaw. But even among criminals there are rules and Joe breaks a big one: crossing a powerful mob boss by stealing his money and his moll. The fiery affair ends in tragedy, setting Joe on a path of revenge, ambition, romance and betrayal that propels him out of Boston and up the ladder of Tampa’s steamy rum-running underworld.
Film Review:
An outlaw who refuses to be called a gangster is Joe Coughlin, played by Ben Affleck who was also directing the film himself. Set in 1920’s the film aims for a classic gangster life who initially was a soldier then became an outlaw. His father Brendan Gleeson (Thomas Coughlin) who plays as the Chief of police in Boston at the time. It seems like the father and son have not been in good terms for a long time when Joe took Emma Gould (Sienna Miller) out for dinner and the three of them had a very awkward meeting. There, Joe was confronted by his dad about his relationship with Emma-who is also Albert White’s mistress. This makes things complicated for Joe because Albert White is a popular mob boss in Boston. And his reputation is of the notorious kind.
It was supposed to be a good film but it turned out disappointing and felt dragging. The story was a pain to follow and it felt confusing to watch. The script felt too modern for the setting and most of the scenes didn’t make sense. It seemed dragging and editing could have been better. Affleck, although he tried to tell a good story, failed this time. It would have gone the other way if the casting was better as well as directing. Affleck either have lost his focus or he focused on only one thing- making the film too melodramatic.
On the other hand, Chief Figgis (Chris Cooper) was amazing as a guy who just didn’t want any trouble but then trouble seems to get to him until he went insane and did a terrible thing in the end. He was probably a symbol of a simple man who would do anything for his family but just gets pushed to the edge and loses himself.
Live by Night wanted to tell a story of a gangster who wanted to have what everybody wants-a family. The film had good potential but was just not executed well. Sound editing was brilliant with all the chasing, gun shots and fight scenes. It all felt real. But when the actors are just living their lives as normal people it looked unnatural, with all the neat looking and obvious make up especially for Joe. Everything else just seemed unnatural and felt like I was indeed watching a movie in a not so captivating way.