A group of Boston-bred gangsters set up shop in balmy Florida during the Prohibition era, facing off against the competition and the Ku Klux Klan.
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The Worst Film Ever
hyped garbage
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Ironically, it is literally a challenge to stay awake through this film. There are four things wrong with this movie, and all of them are named Ben Affleck.As lead actor, writer, director, producer, sorry but he has to take the blame for this snooze-fest.In all fairness, the music also sucks..More than anything, although the basic story is good the script is somewhat lackluster and fails to spark any passion, but also Ben Affleck is terribly out of his acting range in the lead role and never really conveys the essence of a person from the time period.Visually, the movie looks pretty great and the action sequences are very well done.This could have been another great crime movie with a different musical score and more appropriate lead actor and a little harsher editing.
Very lavish sets. The Godfather mixed with Gone with the Wind in set design. Sadly Ben Affleck isn't worthy of the effort that went into the props,locations & vintage customs. What a waste,you could have remade Godfather 1,2 & 3 with the recycled props, costumes & extras . Affleck is bland ,boring & miscast...he's to much of himself.He can't switch out of his own wooden personality especially as he ages...that dimpled cuteness & boyish charm has finally faded.His character should be selling insurance in 1930's Miami instead of bootlegging Gin.I know this review is harsh,but as a career consular he should stick with dry romantic comedies...from the late 1990's. Now if he was a fly fisherman next to a gangster hideout "River Runs Through the Speakeasy" his range of emotions could be better utilized. His method acting is a perfect rendition of a Wall Street yuppie robbing your pension fund circa 2000-2008 ...not a 1930's Irish gangster. Affleck pretending to be tough guy getaway driver in Chicago...it's funny.Mr. Dimples also adds religion & race relations...the dujour of Hollywood for the past decade. But it all falls flat. Snooze-fest flat on the couch flat. I napped & one hour latter I felt I hadn't missed anything except a change of costumes, Should have called the move ZZZzzz.Affleck the stiff failed to make a classic..but he gainfully tries copying expensive scenes or moods taken straight outa "Once Upon a Time in America ,Miller's Crossing ,Road to Perdition"...at the cost of $65 million. I could have done the same for under $100 by copying YouTube clips of those classics.Actually Affleck is a gangster...$65 million,not a bad days work.
Live by Night - Ben Affleck's 'sorry my Great Grandpa kept slaves' film. So this petty Chicago (I'm not a..)gangster guy gets set up and a very cuddly Don Italiano uses him to get at some Irish gangster guy in Florida. Ben goes uber PC as an Irish guy working for an Italian banging a Cuban/black chick while taking the fight to the KKK - we turned it off. 1/10 - dunno how it ended.
In a theme that goes back at least to James Cagney in The Roaring 20s, Ben Affleck plays a disillusioned war veteran who having seen the promises of a just world and peace not coming to fruition has decided since he's learned the trade of killing decides to make use of it by becoming a criminal. It's hard for Affleck who produced, directed, and stars in Live By Night as he is the son of a police chief in Boston.He gets caught up in a turf war between rival gangsters Remo Girone and Robert Glenister after a narrow escape from death and a prison term goes to work for Girone who asks him to organize in Florida and he chooses Tampa as his base. Affleck has to deal with other gangsters, the Ku Klux Klan, and holy roller revivalists and in the end there's one big shootout with his crew and his former Boston associates.Three women have prominent roles here, Elle Fanning who was degraded in Hollywood and then becomes an Aimee Semple McPherson revivalist, Zoe Saldana daughter of a local Cuban rum importer who with Affleck breaks all kinds of racist taboos in Dixie Florida when she gets involved with him, and Sienna Miller who was originally involved with both Affleck and Glenister at the same time.The ambiance of both 20s Boston and 20s/30s Tampa is well done here. Affleck also gets good performances out of his entire ensemble and take note of Chris Cooper as a redneck sheriff and Fanning's father, Cooper's brother-in-law is Matthew Maher whose bigotry as both the local Klan Kleagle is frightening and repellent, Chris Messina as Affleck's right hand guy, and Max Casella as the mutt son of Girone who has it in for Affleck. What he lacks in brains he makes up for in bile.Director Affleck also got actor Affleck to give a great performance in the lead. Live By Night is an old fashioned gangster flick with some current themes.