Patriot's Day is a a fairly routine by-the-numbers drama about the Boston Marathon bombings and the hunt for the two brothers. Unfortunately, instead of a docudrama giving us an inside look at the important political and LE players and the decisions made, the film focuses on Whalberg's fictional, composite character and he drags the movie down. Whalberg's "Tommy Saunders" is a fairly unlikable character. He's facing suspension, has a bad attitude, and hobbles around on an injured leg. Every time he came on screen the film lost momentum as it took the focus away from the really important decision makers.
The film's run-time definitely seems padded with unnecessary scenes showing us the victims' mundane lives before the bombings and the domestic bliss and/or squabbles of the fictional Tommy Saunders and other law enforcement. There were only two sequences in the film that I found gripping. One was the carjacking/kidnapping and eventual escape by the Chinese man. I didn't recall that part of the event and I was genuinely concerned for and cared about the young man. The other sequence that stood out was the interrogation of the wife. It was dramatically underplayed and the tension was palpable. The film would have been better served had it concentrated on these types of realistic scenes and simply cast top-quality character actors instead of a top star that required extensive time in front of the camera. Love Mark Whalberg but he was totally unnecessary and actually a hindrance in this movie.
The film's run-time definitely seems padded with unnecessary scenes showing us the victims' mundane lives before the bombings and the domestic bliss and/or squabbles of the fictional Tommy Saunders and other law enforcement. There were only two sequences in the film that I found gripping. One was the carjacking/kidnapping and eventual escape by the Chinese man. I didn't recall that part of the event and I was genuinely concerned for and cared about the young man. The other sequence that stood out was the interrogation of the wife. It was dramatically underplayed and the tension was palpable. The film would have been better served had it concentrated on these types of realistic scenes and simply cast top-quality character actors instead of a top star that required extensive time in front of the camera. Love Mark Whalberg but he was totally unnecessary and actually a hindrance in this movie.