MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Live By Night’

(Warner Bros. Pictures)
By Lucas Allen

As talented as an actor he is, Ben Affleck is also really good as a director with his award-winning films “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Town” and “Argo.” For his fourth directorial feature, he tries his hand at making an epic gangster drama, “Live by Night,” which is based on the 2012 novel by Dennis Lehane. No matter how the film turned out, he’s good at directing actors and scenes for the most part.

After World War I, Joe Coughlin (Affleck) turns to petty robbery > around Boston while working for Irish gangster Albert White (Robert Glenister). But after his secret love affair with the boss’ girlfriend, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller), gets exposed, he’s beaten > and sent to jail for an earlier crime before his father Thomas (Brendan Gleeson) has his sentence reduced.

Three years later, he goes to Florida, reunites with his old partner, Dion Bartolo (Chris Messina), and then works for White’s Italian rival, Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone), to oversee business around a small area in Tampa. Once he starts making money selling illegal rum, he lives the high life and falls in love with local girl Graciela (Zoe Saldana).

But he soon runs afoul with the town’s local Ku Klux Klan, which could put a big dent on his new-found riches.

Then there’s Sheriff Figgis’ (Chris Cooper) daughter Loretta (Elle Fanning), a heroin addict turned religious cult leader whose influence will disrupt plans for a casino. With his existence in jeopardy, Joe starts to rethink his nonviolent approach to being a gangster.

On the surface, it’s a very well made movie with some good cinematography and some thrilling action sequences including the climatic shootout. It seems Affleck was trying to be a little more ambitious when he wrote the script and directed the film, but it comes up short. The story gets very slow in parts with unnecessary exposition where you’ll find yourself pretty bored. It’s hard to tell if this movie was made that way or if there’s more to it in an original cut that was edited out, but gangster movies have to make a delicate balance between character drama and action to make it entertaining.

In this case, this could’ve been a better edited movie no matter if it’s Affleck or the studio responsible. Some scenes go on too long, as if the director wanted to make a three-hour movie, while the more exciting stuff was relegated to the first and last acts rather than used a little more throughout. Still, it looks great and is shot with the right amount of professionalism, so it counts for something.

The acting is quite good for the most part, especially Affleck’s own with passion and gravitas. Though all three have limited screen time, Fanning, Miller and Saldana deliver genuine performances that help keep things afloat. It also boasts a nice array of character actors, including Messina, Cooper, Clark Gregg and Anthony Michael Hall. The biggest problem with the acting is the heavy accents that become increasingly distracting and some may find laughable, taking away the serious tone.

“Live by Night” is one of those movies that could’ve been great if all the pieces of the puzzle were fitted right. It has enough good moments to make it watchable, but it makes you wish for a better gangster film experience from the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Let’s hope Affleck doesn’t suffer the same pressure when he stars and directs in his solo “Batman” movie.

THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for strong violence, language throughout and some sexuality/nudity)
THE MOVIE’S RATING: 2.75 Stars (out of four)