Live by Night

Name: Live by Night
Genre: Drama, Crime
Released: December 25, 2016
Duration: 129 min
Rating: 49
Cast: Ben Affleck, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Cooper, Chris Messina, Elle Fanning

2016

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 133 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 133 Ratings

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Live By Night

Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. | Release Date: December 25, 2016

Starring: Ben Affleck, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Cooper, Chris Messina, Elle Fanning, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana

Summary: In the roaring '20s, Prohibition hasn’t stopped the flow of booze in an underground network of gangster-run speakeasies. The opportunity to gain power and money is there for any man with enough ambition and nerve and Joe Coughlin, the son of the Boston Police Superintendent, long ago turned his back on his strict upbringing for the spoilsIn the roaring '20s, Prohibition hasn’t stopped the flow of booze in an underground network of gangster-run speakeasies. The opportunity to gain power and money is there for any man with enough ambition and nerve and Joe Coughlin, the son of the Boston Police Superintendent, long ago turned his back on his strict upbringing for the spoils of being an outlaw. But even among criminals there are rules and Joe breaks a big one: crossing a powerful mob boss by stealing his money and his moll. The fiery affair ends in tragedy, setting Joe on a path of revenge, ambition, romance and betrayal that propels him out of Boston and up the ladder of Tampa’s steamy rum-running underworld. [Warner Bros.]… Expand

Director: Ben Affleck

Genre(s): Drama, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 129 min

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Critic Reviews

ReelViews - James Berardinelli

Jan 12, 2017

The film’s climax is tautly executed; the way everything plays out is a whirl of brutal, violent beauty. Read full review

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Calvin Wilson

Jan 12, 2017

Still, it’s worth seeing for Affleck’s charismatic performance and for its vision of America as a land of greed, violence and political expediency that some moviegoers will find all too familiar. Read full review

Time Out - Tomris Laffly

Dec 21, 2016

There’s a lot of cinema to admire here. And being reminded of the directorial talents of Affleck—undeniably a more accomplished filmmaker than an actor—is no minor event. Read full review

New York Daily News - Stephen Whitty

Dec 21, 2016

Although Affleck's been a decent director - capturing real local color in "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town," building tension nicely in "Argo" - his work here is dim and dull. Live by Night may be about rum, but the pacing is like molasses. Read full review

The Seattle Times - Soren Andersen

Jan 11, 2017

Affleck sports plenty of snappy ’20s fashions, tailored double-breasted suits, often cream-colored, and elegant Borsalino-style fedoras. He’s dressed to kill for sure. Too bad his movie is so deadly dull. Read full review

Village Voice - Bilge Ebiri

Dec 23, 2016

Somewhere inside the 128-minute Live by Night is a reasonably solid 168-minute movie struggling to get out. No, that’s not a typo: You can sense the contours of an absorbing story as writer/director/star Ben Affleck’s slapdash and fragmented assemblage limps along. Most of the pieces are there, but they remain pieces. Read full review

The Playlist - Rodrigo Perez

Dec 21, 2016

Labelling Live By Night a disaster is a little uncharitable; the baggy drama is perhaps more painfully mediocre than full-blown folly, but it’s close. Read full review

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User Reviews

Samuel-Minuzzi

Dec 27, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have not yet had the opportunity to watch the movie, I'm sure it will be brilliant as the book, because I trust the work of Director Ben Affleck , besides the wonderful cast.… Expand

4 of 15 users found this helpful411

Spangle

Jan 17, 2017

Having read the novel by Dennis Lehane, it became apparent that any adaptation of the novel would have to be long in order to capture the sprawling grandness of the novel. From Boston to jail to Ybor City to Cuba, the book has a lot of players, a lot of angles, lots of action and movingHaving read the novel by Dennis Lehane, it became apparent that any adaptation of the novel would have to be long in order to capture the sprawling grandness of the novel. From Boston to jail to Ybor City to Cuba, the book has a lot of players, a lot of angles, lots of action and moving parts, and a lot of subplots. The film adaptation sticks largely to these transitions and mentions many of the subplots without diving into them. This is both to the film's detriment and betterment as it often feels as it lacks the depth necessary to make all of its pieces work, but also feels like it is adding in too much. As many have said, making it shorter or longer would have been for the best. However, the final product - which sits at just over two hours in length - is very, very good. Ultimately a barometer on how much people like Ben Affleck, the critical and audience reaction has said that Affleck sucks at either acting, directing, or writing, or a selection of the trio. Fortunately, for me, I do really enjoy Affleck's work in all three arenas. As such, Live by Night falls right into my wheelhouse and, for the most part, works very well.

That said, it is hardly perfect. The beginning section, set in Boston and in jail, is rocky to say the least. For critics who do not enjoy Affleck, this early section makes it easy to write it off as nothing more than a derivative homage to old school gangster and noir flicks. With a femme fatale, underdeveloped morality elements, heists, a cop father, and brushing shoulders with death and gangsters, and doing all of these while smoking a well shot cigarette in a suit with a fedora, the beginning is derivative. It is also messily put together, typically shot, and poorly edited. Scenes smash into one another as Affleck skims through the first 100+ pages of the book to try and get to the good part. He sprinkles little pieces here and there to set the scene and tries to rush through it all. Likely, editing this portion was a real pain as it is the slowest part of the film and is entirely necessary. As such, it flies by and feels wholly inadequate.

For this who decide to stick around, however, Affleck delivers a tremendous gangster flick once we hit Ybor City. Charged with running the rum operation in Tampa of gangster Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone), Joe Coughlin (Affleck) is a nice guy. He can kill, but cannot live with the guilt. While the beginning is derivative and typical of gangster flicks, this section is hardly typical. Cruel gangster with a conscience has been done before, but not quite like this. Instead, he is an uncruel gangster who operates more as a remorseful businessman. His line of business demands violence, but unless the person makes an overt case for deserving a bullet to the head, he is hardly a gunman. Instead, he runs a tremendous operation and lives out the American dream with his best friend Dino Bartolo (Chris Messina) at his side. Taking on the KKK and the gang of Albert White (Robert Gleinster) at every turn, Joe is able to defeat all comers. He corners the market in Ybor City and, as the book explains more and the movie hints at, the entirety of the South stretching to New Orleans. Raking in cash, he also meets a Cuban freedom fighter who becomes his wife, Graciela Suarez (Zoe Saldana). Life is good as he plans on opening a casino to preempt the legalization of alcohol. Until he meets Loretta Figgis (Elle Fanning).

The daughter of Chief Sheriff Irving Figgis (Chris Cooper), Loretta is gorgeous. She is off to Hollywood, but trips along the way and falls into heroin and the sex trade. Joe brings her back to Ybor City as his end of a bargain with Irving in exchange for a KKK member's head. Loretta returns and becomes a preacher who commands a large congregation and builds up serious political sway. She also happens to be anti-gambling, as she views it as a vice and a sin against God. Though directed to kill her, Joe cannot. She kills the casino deal and ends Joe's run as the Mayor of Ybor. Why could he not kill her? Well, to explain that, it really dives into what makes Live by Night so good.

Early in the film, Joe's father Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson) warns his bandit of a son that we reap what we sow in life. Joe, a good man, knows this. He knows that his gangster lifestyle will come back to haunt him because of the violence he must commit to remain relevant. He kills people via booze, pimps out girls, and sells drugs. He is not a good man and this bothers him. As Albert White explains to Joe early in the film, Joe is looking for somebody to make him pay for his sins. Joe is remorseful and regrets his sins, which is why he cannot kill Loretta. He envies and admires her. She went to hell and back. She preaches and lives up to the word of God. She sinned and escaped retribution for her sins. She outran the rebuking (her father spanking her does not count). This is really underscored in the final shot of the film.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

paychick

Jan 15, 2017

Would have worked better as a mini-series (because it would allowed some of the themes to breathe), but overall has some great moments and it's well-acted.

4 of 5 users found this helpful41

LeZee

Sep 16, 2017

Fall and rise, a revenge tale.

Number four for the director Affleck after his other film won the Oscars four years ago. He has also written the screenplay and produced it. It was based on the book of the same name. The story of a World War I veteran turned notorious gangster. Escaping fromFall and rise, a revenge tale.

Number four for the director Affleck after his other film won the Oscars four years ago. He has also written the screenplay and produced it. It was based on the book of the same name. The story of a World War I veteran turned notorious gangster. Escaping from the war, falling in love with a gangster's woman, a bank heist, prison time, the son of a police officer and his journey to the top of the criminal world after losing everything at one stage of his life. More like a revenge film, but the intention was not aggressive. Only the time and the life passage give one to him.

From all his directional films, probably this could be the worst one. It had everything a gangster film needed like gun fights, car chase, revenge, romance, yet I felt lacked depth in its overall theme. Actors were not bad, the settings looked fine. The length of the film was a bit long, but the film offered nothing new. It looked like someone's biography or made it look like one. I think that's the point. Even the end part of the film extends, only to annoy us after two long hours patiently sat for it.

The best part of the film, what I liked was the 1920s. The story about between two the World Wars, that too was about an internal affair like underworld activities looked nice on the screen. The cast and crew were best for the film, yet failed to impress us. Though it was not totally a bad film of the year, only it did not stand and deliver as it was promised. So, still it can be watched once if you prefer, but not guaranteed entertainment.

6/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

KuroNinja

Mar 9, 2017

I felt the movie was very long and drawn out, it could have done with a shorter plot line that summarised the story better. I look forward to what Ben Affleck has to offer next.

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

iCronic

Aug 7, 2017

Elle Fanning is worth watching but there is just absolutely nothing exciting about this film, completely middle of the road

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

imthenoob

Mar 15, 2017

Follows every typical and predictable mobster movie trope ever. I don't think a single original thought went into the script and it shows through out the film. What a disappointment.

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

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