Respond to these rapid questions in our Patriots Day quiz and we will tell you which Patriots Day character you are. Play it now.
In “Patriots Day,” the third collaboration between star Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg (the first was “Deepwater Horizon”), and the second in 2016 alone (the first was “Deepwater Horizon”), the story of the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, which killed three people and injured hundreds is told, as well as the unprecedented citywide manhunt that took place over the following week, during which the entire city of Boston was shut down.
The film opens with a scene showing fictional police officer Sgt. Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg) conducting a routine drug bust in his patrol car. In this scene, the point is to demonstrate that Saunders had been suspended earlier in the year and is now being assigned humiliating assignments such as working at the Boston Marathon’s finish line (occurring the following day). Saunders recoils at the prospect of performing crowd control duties instead of what he considers to be legitimate police work. And then a few hours later, Saunders finds himself in the midst of an explosion, where his performance is admirably commendable. This doesn’t sit well with me, and his personal redemption story doesn’t sit well with me as well. Because the real-life investigators and real-life Boston police officers who carried out the actual investigation provide so many examples of heroism and courage, the stories could fill an entire library. This was avoided by Berg and Wahlberg in the much more effective “Deepwater Horizon,” which focused solely on the event itself and the terrible impact it had on the people who worked on the rig at the time. Although Saunders is ostensibly the main character, he performs his duties in the company of a large ensemble that includes members of the general public, FBI agents, government officials, Boston police, and police officers from the nearby town of Watertown, where terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was eventually discovered hiding in a boat in someone’s backyard. And it is this story, the true story, that allows “Patriots Day” to be salvaged.
Throughout the film, Berg, who co-wrote the script with Matt Cook and Joshua Zetumer, jumps around from scene to scene, beginning with the opening sequence, which depicts the morning of the marathon as experienced by characters who will play major roles in the days to come: young couple Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes (Rachel Brosnahan and Christopher O’Shea), Northeastern student Dun Meng (Jimmy O. Yang), fresh-faced MIT police officer Sean Collier ( Along the way, we see Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff) and his brother Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze) hanging out at their dark, depressing apartment, making final preparations for the attack, all while Tamerlan’s wife (Melissa Benoist) complains that her husband didn’t buy the right kind of milk. Combining the pulsing score by Trent Reznor with stunning aerial shots of Boston at sunrise, this opening sequence creates an atmosphere of anticipatory dread for the events that are about to unfold on the screen. As with “Deepwater Horizon,” where the special effects were so grittly realistic that you could practically feel the heat of the fire, the bombing is sudden and visceral when it occurs.
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Once the investigation begins, the celebration of “Patriots Day” gets into high gear. When the FBI special agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon) and Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman) arrive, they fight over the best course of action, while FBI agents hole up with CCTV footage and cell-phone videos, looking for possible suspects, to determine the best course of action for the investigation. Berg is on solid ground in this situation, and it shows. What is important about this story is that it is reduced to its most urgent essence: Who did this? What happened to them? Is there a new batch of bombs? Competent people who are fully committed to solving a problem are fascinating to observe.
Patriots Day Quiz
The bumbling, incompetent escape of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan takes place on a separate track from the main one. Their plans to travel to New York and detonate additional bombs come crashing down almost immediately. In the film, the carjacking and abduction of Dun Meng, as well as their aimless driving around the outskirts of Boston, are all leading up to Meng’s thrilling (and insanely brave) escape, which is clearly the story element that Berg finds to be most cinematic and interesting. Berg is the one who spends the most time here. In part because of this, the pacing of the film is uneven, but it is in this lengthy sequence (which is also the longest sequence overall) that the Tsarnaev dynamic is most clearly evident: Tamir is the frantic, overbearing older brother, and Dzhokar is the clueless younger brother, who wonders aloud if there is an iPod port in the SUV and complains about Tamerlan not letting him drive. We don’t know what went through their heads before they did what they did. Dzhokar, in particular, appears to be completely incapable of delving into deep thought in any way. Meng’s attempts to bargain with his captors, begging for his life, are punctuated by moments of unexpected humor. He eventually realizes that they are not going to let him go, and that no one is coming to save him. He must therefore rescue himself.
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Was Tamerlan’s enigmatic wife somehow involved? What exactly did she know? There is an interrogation scene in which no information is revealed (and to this day, Katherine Russell has not been charged with anything). Do you think Dzokhar realized how much trouble he was getting himself into? On the surface, Alex Wolff is cast in the role, and he does an excellent job of frightening and convincing us. He pouts and cracks jokes, demonstrating that he is still struggling to comprehend the gravity of what he has done. Meanwhile, under intense pressure, the multi-tentacled investigation encircles and engulfs them, making it impossible to escape. Despite the fact that these events are well-known to us (I was at Ebertfest at the time because my entire family is from Boston, and one of my mother’s closest friends lives in the neighborhood where Dzokhar was finally found, and was texting my mother updates on the chaos outside), Berg and company have recreated them in a gripping and immediate narrative that is a pleasure to watch.
About the quiz
An error has been made by elevating a fictional character to hero status in the middle of all of this real-life turbulence. Despite his bleak circumstances, a down-on-his-luck cop finds himself at the center of a massive federal investigation, stumbling into the center of every major moment in both the search and capture that followed, even to the point where beloved Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz personally reaches out to shake his hand just prior to walking out onto the field at Fenway Park and delivering a now-famous and cathartic speech to the crowd. It’s an excessive amount. The community of Boston, rather than a fictional character played by a movie star, is the hero of “Patriots Day” (albeit a famous Bostonian).
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In the words of Fred (“Mr.”) Rogers, “When I was a boy and I would watch the news and see things that were frightening, my mother would tell me to look for the helpers.'” ‘There will always be people who are willing to assist.'” Despite the fact that the quote is frequently cited in times of disaster, its truth does not diminish its significance. Mr. Rogers is absolutely correct. If you’ve ever been through a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or any other violent event, you’ll understand why. In the event of a disaster, there are those who rush to the scene to lend a hand in any way they are able. It is truly inspirational in the most literal sense of the word. First responders, overburdened emergency room doctors, local police officers and FBI agents, those manning the phones for citizen tips, and hacker-types sifting through mounds of video footage are the living embodiment of “Boston Strong,” and they are the people who make “Patriots Day” so special and memorable.
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