The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on March 21, unless otherwise noted: Live by Night (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet) Details: 2016, Warner Home Video Rated: R, graphic violence, language, sexual content, nudity The lowdown: “Live by Night” would have greatly benefited if Ben Affleck had committed wholly to embracing the dark side of his rum-running bootlegger. Instead, Affleck, who also wrote the script and directed the movie, based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, goes to great pains to give his Joe Coughlin a moral code and honorable set of ethics. Yes, Coughlin kills people — lots of them — but, per his view, they deserved to die. Affleck’s use of voice-over narration reinforces his character’s outlook, as well as Affleck the director’s need to make audiences understand and sympathize with Coughlin. “Live by Night” reeks of pretention as if Affleck was not satisfied with making a simple crime drama, but, instead, had to infuse it with messages and observations that seem aimed at today’s political and social climate. The film crawls along, interspersed by kinetic moments of violence. It is unevenly paced, cold and uninvolving. “Live by Night” is weighed down by Affleck’s ambitions to create more than a simple gangster film. As good as he is as a director, this is one case in which his reach outdistances his grasp. The film does work better in the intimate confines of a home theater than on the big screen. Affleck’s narration is easier to understand as are some of the ethnic accents of the Southern and Hispanic characters.
New to View: March 21
New to View: March 21
New to View: March 21
The following Blu-rays and DVDs are being released on March 21, unless otherwise noted: Live by Night (Blu-ray + Ultraviolet) Details: 2016, Warner Home Video Rated: R, graphic violence, language, sexual content, nudity The lowdown: “Live by Night” would have greatly benefited if Ben Affleck had committed wholly to embracing the dark side of his rum-running bootlegger. Instead, Affleck, who also wrote the script and directed the movie, based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, goes to great pains to give his Joe Coughlin a moral code and honorable set of ethics. Yes, Coughlin kills people — lots of them — but, per his view, they deserved to die. Affleck’s use of voice-over narration reinforces his character’s outlook, as well as Affleck the director’s need to make audiences understand and sympathize with Coughlin. “Live by Night” reeks of pretention as if Affleck was not satisfied with making a simple crime drama, but, instead, had to infuse it with messages and observations that seem aimed at today’s political and social climate. The film crawls along, interspersed by kinetic moments of violence. It is unevenly paced, cold and uninvolving. “Live by Night” is weighed down by Affleck’s ambitions to create more than a simple gangster film. As good as he is as a director, this is one case in which his reach outdistances his grasp. The film does work better in the intimate confines of a home theater than on the big screen. Affleck’s narration is easier to understand as are some of the ethnic accents of the Southern and Hispanic characters.