Live by Night

Cast: Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Robert Glenister, Chris Messina, Chris Cooper, and Sienna Miller.

Director: Ben Affleck

Release Date: 2017

Genre: Crime/Gangster/Drama

Running Time: 2hrs 9minutes

Rating: R

Format: Theatrical Cinema Release 

Synopsis:

Set in Boston, 1926, John Coughlin (Ben Affleck), the youngest son of Boston Police Captain (Brendan Gleeson), has long turned against his proper upbringing, from petty theft to being a pretty famous mobster, he loves the thrill of being an outlaw. Joe and his friends set up a shop in Florida, during the prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan. Could it be an early death for Joe though?

Based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, Ben Affleck delivers one of the best gangster films to date! Set in Boston in 1926, John Coughlin (Affleck), is the youngest son of Boston Police Captain Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson), John has long turned against his proper upbringing from theft to be a famous mobster, John thrives on being an outlaw! Once again Ben Affleck proves that he is more then capable of directing an exceptionally good movie. When you picture a gangster movie you are probably picturing a film full of action? Live by Night has it's moments. The storyline is very interesting and flows very nicely, however the second chapter is where it really starts to get good! There's certainly a few twists. For someone who wouldn't normally go looking for gangster movies, I was really very pleasantly surprised!

Ben Affleck's character John Coughlin is very interesting, a man who is essentially addicted to robbing. He can't help himself. The more he succeeds at robbing the more he wants to do it. Brendan Gleeson delivers a very nice performance, although it's a shame he doesn't have a great deal of screen time. Captain Thomas Coughlin is very aware of what his son is doing. Despite the circumstances in which they find themselves, they share a nice relationship with one another. Chris Cooper is an actor who never fails to impress, he really immerses himself into his roles and shows incredible characterisation. He too has a very interesting character, he works fairly well on screen with Elle Fanning who plays his daughter Loretta Figgis. Elle Fanning has come very far since "Super 8" and "Maleficent" she's really fantastic as Loretta. Loretta changes drastically through out the course of the film.

The production team have really captured the era beautifully with stunning set designs. I love the choice of cars, they look fantastic during some action sequences. The costume design is brilliant and adds to the tone of the film perfectly. The choice of lighting was excellent it corresponds with the storyline and the set design beautifully. It's an old school gangster movie, it's brilliant! I'm stunned that this flopped at the box office? Is it too slow? Not really. The movie flows very nice and explains itself well as the course of the film goes on. Action sequences? Few and far between but very good none the less. Is that where audiences went wrong? They were expecting this to be a massive action film? Forgetting that it was based on a novel. The action is there, it's just presented more to the audience during the second chapter of the film.

In my humble opinion one of Ben Affleck's best films to date and easily his best directed films. It's stunning, it's classy and it's meaningful. If your into your gangster movies this is definitely worth a go! Be patient! It's an emotional ride!

5/5 stars