Bluray Review - Patriots Day (2016)

I was open to checking this film out because I was willing to see the director’s depiction of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. That film made for an all-out thriller action flick, but yet was able to stay within the boundaries of realism. Now after seeing Patriot’s Day, I think director Peter Berg might be trying to imitate Michael Bay with a thousand camera angles and slick editing. It also tries to be a little too convenient by giving our leading man a chance to yuck things up while being at the right place at the right time to save the day.

Wahlberg’s character is conveniently placed in the middle of all the major events that were part of this incident. This is done for convenience, but that ultimately does disservice to the factual basis of the story. I did enjoy the energetic pace of the story, both in the build-up and manhunt afterward. Little time is spent setting up the two brothers who instigated the bombing, other than older brother was the more radicalised of the two.

The theme of this movie is camaraderie. There is only a little bickering about the direction of the investigation, and in the process portrays the City of Boston as a fist- pumping patriotic love fest. I felt the manipulative music was deliberately used to push the sentimentality. There is an epilogue that runs too long that I think could have had a more documentary approach and would have preferred to not use the music as a shameless attempt to push our buttons.

I must say I agree with the extra message at the end of the film that WE ARE STILL A NATION OF TOLERANCE, and was the responsible thing for the filmmakers to make sure those who watch understand the importance of that message in our current political climate.

Special Features
* The Boston Strong: Stories of Courage – profiles of and interviews with Dr. Jeffrey Kalish, Dun Meng, and Sgt. Jeff Pugliese with a documentarian approach providing at least as much emotional impact, and arguably more so, than any dramatization could.
* The Boston Bond: Recounting the Tale – has a bit more of an EPK flavor, but includes interviews and an homage of sorts to both Boston in general and the interactions of the cast and crew with the city when they were shooting there.
* The Real Patriots: The Local Heroes’ Stories – offers Peter Berg describing what kind of movie he likes to make, followed by some excellent interviews with various participants.
* The Cast Re – presents several cast detailing what they were doing when the Marathon Bombing happened.
* Actors Meet Their Real Life Counterparts: A 2 Part Series – offers interchanges between John Goodman and Ed Davis, and Jimmy O. Yang and Dun Meng.
* Researching the Day – another quasi EPK with interviews detailing the production both in general and also more specifically in accurately recreating events.