Respond to these rapid questions in our Live By Night quiz and we will tell you which Live By Night character you are. Play it now.
It’s impossible to comprehend why some mediocre films were made in the first place; you’ll never understand why they were made in the first place. When someone purchased the script, it was clear that it was a sham, that it would never be profitable, and that no one involved possessed the necessary skills to pull it off. What was the point of bothering?
The phrase “Live by Night” makes perfect sense. On paper, it appears to be an impossible proposition to fail. Director Ben Affleck is fresh off of winning the Best Picture Oscar for his previous film, “Argo,” and he began his already-impressive directorial career with an adaptation of a novel written by the same author as his source material, Dennis Lehane, who is also the author of such films as “Gone Baby Gone,” “Mystic River,” “Shutter Island,” and others. The entire cast is full of talent, including Oscar winners and charismatic actresses who will be playing Affleck’s female counterparts. The sprawling gangster story was given more than enough funding to pull it off, and it even landed a release date that coincides with awards season, which is unusual for this genre. As a result, the central question behind “Live by Night” isn’t so much “Why did they bother?” as it is “What happened?”
“Live by Night” is the story of the rise of Joe Coughlin (Affleck), a relatively low-level mobster during the Prohibition era. Sorta. Kinda. The reason why this epic story on the page lacked an interesting enough protagonist for the screen will be discussed further down in this article. For the time being, know that Coughlin is on the rise in Boston, aided a little by his cop father (Brendan Gleeson, who is excellent even in what amounts to a one-scene role), and that he is head over heels in love with local mob boss Albert White’s (Robert Glenister) daughter Emma (Sienna Miller). After robbing a couple of poker games, Joe decides to rob a bank and flee with Emma, but Albert gets wind of it and double crosses Joe, nearly killing him. The film is rated PG-13.
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Coughlin flees to Florida, but his involvement with the criminal underworld is far from over. His primary objective is to report to White’s Italian adversary, Maso Pescatore (Renato Girone), and he’s effectively building an empire in the fictional town of “Ybor” by seizing control of the rum trade. The process leads him to meet and fall in love with an attractive young woman named Graciela (Zoe Saldana, who makes the most of her limited screen time), as well as reach a gentleman’s agreement with local lawman Chief Figgis (Chris Cooper), who allows him to do whatever he needs to as long as he stays within the appropriate geographical boundaries. In Florida, Coughlin comes into conflict with the Ku Klux Klan and meets Figgis’ daughter Loretta (Elle Fanning), who will play an important role in determining whether or not this Northerner will build a casino that will open just as Prohibition comes to an end.
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It takes a confident hand with an artistic vision to guide crime epics like Lehane’s book to the big screen, especially when the story spans multiple states and years of plot development. Affleck doesn’t appear to be particularly enthusiastic about the subject matter. The urgency that he demonstrated in his previous directorial efforts is absent from this project. Whatever flaws you may find in his other three films, they all had a certain momentum to them, especially nail-biting works like “The Town” and “Argo,” which were both released in 1988. “Live by Night” is a film that has almost no forward momentum. It frequently plods from one plot point to the next. Some scenes drag on for far too long, particularly in the final act when Affleck is attempting to elicit emotion from a script that lacks it, while others appear to have been truncated in the editing room. The pacing is a little off in this scene, which prevents us from feeling fully engaged or immersed in the story.
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Lack of grit is another important factor that prevents complete immersion. In this world, there is no such thing as sweat or dirt. Everything appears to be too precisely tailored, and the violence and sex are devoid of any genuine pain or heat. It’s not as egregious as some recent dress-up movies (I’m looking at you, “American Pastoral”), but we never get the sense that we’re being transported to another location or time. A backlot with a costume budget and a design team that should have been told to scuff up the floor or fray a hem here and there would have been appropriate decisions.
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The real tragedy — and the reason my rating isn’t lower — is that there are moments and performances that are both effective and entertaining. With Gleeson, Miller, Fanning, Saldana, and Cooper, Affleck and his producers have assembled an impressive cast, and they manage to hit some nice little notes every now and then with their performances. There are some strong scenes and character choices in this film; however, the scenes and character choices are not connected in any way that makes the film entertaining or emotionally resonant as a whole.
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This brings us to the final and, in my opinion, the most serious problem with “Live by Night.” Lehane wrote an epic novel that encompasses Prohibition, Irish and Italian mobs, racism, religious fanaticism, addiction, and much more, all of which take place over several decades of United States history. The film version doesn’t seem to have the same kind of grandiose ambitions as the original. It is the story of a dude who was involved in a couple of shootouts and made a little money off rum, a footnote in the annals of cinematic mob storytelling history. Perhaps the more pertinent question, which no one ever addressed, should have been “Why should we care?”
For more personality quizzes check this: The Beguiled Quiz.
