An often-terrifying look at the tragic real-life Boston Marathon bombing of 2013, "Patriots Day" is a rah-rah go-America opus, an engrossing thriller, an on-the-spot look behind the scenes and an often-terrific look at an event that gripped the nation's attention for three full days.
The main character of "Patriots Day" is Sgt. Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg), a detective finishing out the consequences of an untold transgression. With one day of street duty left, he is assigned to patrol the finish line at the Boston Marathon, a job he feels is beneath him.
When an explosion rocks the marathon, Saunders leaps into action, first performing triage, then uncovering a brutal act of terror and an aftermath that is perhaps even more frightening.
The biggest strength of "Patriots Day" owes to pictures like "United 93," which offer a quasi-documentary take on events as they unfold. Director / co-writer Peter Berg ("Battleship") gives us a look at the police and federal agents as they collaborate and spar over how to proceed. Politics quickly come into play, as Agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon) hesitates to call the attack an act of terrorism for fear of the media circus that would ensue.
We see the attackers, brothers Tamerlan (Themo Melikidze) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff), seeing them as they complete their plot and the run for their life that ensues as the authorities close in on them.
Berg presents Tamerlan as a bully, controlling his younger brother into helping, while making Dzhokhar into an almost clownish characterization of the put-upon younger brother looking for acceptance.
But this is no attempt to de-villify the perpetrators; at one point, Dzhokhar, at a sensitive moment, coolly suggests they execute the hostage they've taken. We see, and understand, their motives, but are rarely asked to sympathize with them.
The cast is mostly terrific both in star power and performance: John Goodman, J.K. Simmons and Michelle Monaghan all shine in their roles as police chief, veteran cop, and police wife, respectively, Melissa Benoist ("Supergirl") also shines in a few scenes as Tamerlan's wife, an American who may or may not have known about the attack ahead of time.
There is, however, an odd sense of humor about the film that attempts to elicit laughs at odd times, including at the film's tense climax, after a long, bloody shootout that left police officers dead. These moments feel like action-movie beats, and are off-putting in a film with such a solemn message.
And the ramifications of essentially shutting down the city of Boston while the Tamerlans were being pursed is also glossed over if not ignored entirely. That was a move that, if not unprecedented is certainly unusual, and the film barely mentions it as an ethical concern.
But overall, "Patriots Day" offers a new look at an event most of us saw unfolding live on television, putting a new spin on the story and showing the action of first responders and the federal intervention that led to an entire city being shut down. It's a film made for the masses that most who see it will enjoy, flaws and all.