Further celebrating his tremendous, indie success of the last few years, I decided to finally give in and immerse myself in what seems to be everyone's favorite Robert Pattinson performance. Benny and Josh Safdie's Good Time is an excellently tense and stylish thriller that showcases exactly what makes their individual directorial style so unique while providing a powerful lead performance from Pattinson himself. Very tense direction, clever dialogue, and offbeat choices for its cinematography also make this film stand out from the rest of the slew of forgettable thrillers, despite this movie not taking many risks with its overall plot. This film attempts to tackle a few different themes throughout its runtime but more than anything, proves that no bond is greater than that of these two brothers. There were many parts of this story that lulled and while this film might not be my favorite heist thriller ever, I sure had a good time watching it (this is probably not the first time this joke has been made but you can't stop me).
Connie (Robert Pattinson) and Nick Nikas (Benny Safdie) are two criminal brothers who are on the run after robbing a local bank. When Nick gets caught, Connie has to navigate the strange and dangerous underworld of New York City in order to get the money and resources to get his brother back. This story reads as a very generic crime thriller, making the audience feel for these characters and ultimately ending with a lesson learned of some sort. What I love most about Good Time, however, is that while it might have come off as typical on paper, it takes that premise and mixes it up with the Safdie brothers' idiosyncratic filmmaking style. The mesmerizing direction from this pair of filmmakers is incredibly stylish and the way that they are able to build New York in their own style from the ground up is very impressive. Their use of world-building is especially important because as they lead this main character through the strangely neon streets, it guides him on an almost spiritual journey through his life and himself in order to get his brother back. Without this transcendent vision of New York that Benny and Josh had created, this film would not have been nearly as flashy, drawing you in with every last frame. The absolutely clever dialogue that existed in every word out of Pattinson's mouth was fantastic and the way that this fuels the interactions and adventure with Nick was amazing. Benny and Josh's unadulterated energy radiating from this film doesn't stop until the credits end and this aspect of its direction was fantastic.
All of Good Time's technical elements were executed beautifully and while the peculiar, stylistic choices that the Safdies made might not work for some people, it was just weird enough to work for me. Especially in Sean Price Williams' cinematography, as it basically broke every rule of how you are supposed to shoot an action-thriller such as this one. His reliance on close-ups and tight shots during the most exciting and brutal sequences contrasted with his use of single take, wide shots during the car chases were phenomenal. This strange use of the camera takes a bit to get used to, but the boldness of making these cinematographic choices is undeniable. Pattinson and Safdie's performances were also incredible and I have especially not seen the former as unhinged as he was throughout this story. I love crazy, blonde, Robert Pattinson and he wants the world to know that they should too. My issues with this film, however, are that its story can seem to be a bit unfocused at times and the inescapable feeling of the lazy plot. This film followed Connie as he tracks his brother down, but he just simply went from place to place without the use of any callbacks or references to connect these plot choices. Personally, it felt a bit messy and led to me feeling like the plot was a bit too generic as well. Thankfully, the audience has the Safdie brothers' hallucinogenic direction to fall back on that carries the mildly feeble script. Even for a film with this memorable and nearly avant-garde directorial style, because of this lack of motivated screenwriting, it did not have much to say either.
Good Time is a film that I will be thinking about for a while; not just because of the strange zoom in upon Robert Pattinson's entrance in the first scene, but because the film as a whole was not at all what I was expecting. The Safdie brothers know exactly how to balance exciting drama and unanticipated comedy so well and they brilliantly prove that throughout this nonstop adrenaline ride. I can't wait to see the wonders they do with Adam Sandler in December.
My Rating: ★★★½
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