'Good Time': The Safdie Brothers' Gritty and Uniquely Inventive Urban Crime Thriller
Good Time (2017) is a vibrant and uniquely stylized take on the crime thriller genre starring Robert Pattinson as Connie Nikas, a small-time crook who hatches a plan for a daring bank robbery alongside his developmentally-disabled brother Nick (Benny Safdie).
As the storyline unfolds, Connie liberates Nick from a therapeutic care facility and the two quickly mobilize for a bank heist on the streets of New York—only to be separated in the ensuing chaos. After Nick is detained by the police, Connie sets off on a twisted odyssey that includes his desperate attempts to free Nick from custody as well as the incursion of a recently released convict named Ray (Buddy Duress). Connie and Ray's transgressions ultimately lead them down an increasingly serpentine path of miscalculation and criminality, toward a climax of altogether unforeseeable resolution.
Written and directed by burgeoning young filmmakers Benny and Josh Safdie (Heaven Knows What, Uncut Gems), Good Time is a gritty and kinetic excursion in independent filmmaking made palpable by virtue of the Safdies' sheer enthusiasm as storytellers. They bring a manic, nearly unbridled energy to the proceedings, and deliver a visceral and wholly immersive escaped to the audience.
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