Live by Night

I'm not too happy. I admire Ben Affleck for being able to direct, write the script and play the lead role, not many people can do that, but the film itself is rather bland. Of the modern gangster flicks I like Gangster Squad the best because of the fast-paced and gritty action. Live by Night features only two action scenes really, and that's at the beginning and at the end, which were very good, the intense car chase and the final shootout had some oomph. I enjoyed the few brisk deaths, but I found the flow of the film itself very uninteresting and tedious, if it was 30 minutes longer I probably couldn't handle it. 60% (14/01/2017)

We’ve already seen Affleck direct a film based on a Dennis Lehane story once before, and it’s worth noting that back then it was a great film (Gone Baby Gone). However, Live by Night got such a blow from critics that if I were in Affleck’s shoes, I probably wouldn’t recover and might prefer to leave the director's chair to some other industry buddies. But I’m strongly against that because I simply liked this latest effort from this well-known actor. I had been waiting for a solid gangster ride set in the era of American Prohibition for a long time, and Affleck served it to me on a golden platter. I’m not sure what to tell you about the film. A beautifully shot car chase with period cars like this hasn’t been seen before, the romantic subplot was bearable, and most of all, I enjoyed the witty wisdom the film spat out minute after minute. The final shootout was also a brilliant conclusion. It’s not a film with that many action scenes, but it relies mainly on the story and perfectly polished dialogues. Maybe Affleck should work on his facial expressions because it seemed like he only had one stony expression for everything (though that actually fit the role, so I probably shouldn’t hold it against him here). A solid gangster film of this caliber hasn’t been seen in quite some time. I give it 89%. (10/07/2017)

It was supposed to be a five-part miniseries or a three-hour film; then, it would benefit from the huge number of themes and great supporting characters. At the same time, the transformation of Affleck from a straight Boston scrounger to a mafia hood might not sound so unconvincing (at one point he assures us that he does not want to have anything to do with the world of organized crime; but after a moment he suddenly jumps into the position of a menacing boss). But when I think about the overload of storytelling, Live by Night is a fun, stimulating and time-relevant capture of a fragment from the history of the American South, which reflects a number of essential motifs. Solid work with period scenery, a good atmosphere, brisk action and a very fun side storyline and character - the main storyline needs more care and detail, but even so, I went along with the protagonist the entire time without any problems. The scene with KKK in a cigar factory is very, very relieving [75%]. (12/01/2017)

Ben Affleck's ambitious attempt at a stylish gangster flick falls flat due to the fragmentation of the plot and the uncertain, conflicted script. Is it a Prohibition-era mafia tale or romantic multicultural cotton candy propping up a gangster storyline? Fortunately, this distracting element is partly saved by the great 1920s atmosphere and aesthetically extremely pleasing direction (the walk on the pier, the setting sun, etc.). I certainly wasn't bored, but I expected a bit more from Affleck. Maybe he’ll do better next time if he just concentrates on directing and casts someone with more charisma in the lead role instead of himself. As it is, it's just an average spectacle overall, even a bit below average in Affleck's directorial filmography. (15/11/2018)

Somewhere in there is a good film. Somewhere in the background, somewhere in the editing room. It's an hour longer, looks just as good and beautiful as what we got in the cinema, but besides those nice visuals, there are also functioning relationships between the characters and it has a story that doesn't rush anywhere and you can enjoy and have fun with it. Unfortunately, we got in the cinema evidently suffers from being brutally cut. Live by Night senselessly rushes forward, and instead of a modern gangster saga, we have twenty-minute episodes about dealing with mafia competition in Florida, then with the Ku Klux Klan, then with religious fanatics, and then it all ends. I felt like someone had played me a six-hour miniseries cut down to feature length, and I wasn't thrilled about it. (16/05/2017)