Hollywood has been making gangster films for decades, and some are even considered among the greatest works in this genre. Consisting of films like “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Scarface” and “The Untouchables,” the list is pretty long. 2016’s film “Live by Night” is another addition to that list. Based upon the novel by Dennis Lehane, this film set in the backdrop of Prohibition Era America, and tells the story of an ambitious bootlegger who becomes a notorious gangster.
Written, directed, starring and produced by Ben Affleck, this film has an ensemble cast consisting of actors like Zoe Saldana, Sienna Miller, Elle Fanning, Brendon Gleeson, Chris Messina, and Chris Cooper. All the actors have do well in their respective roles; especially, I would like to mention the performance of Elle Fanning. In my opinion, she is the show-stealer in the whole film. She has limited screen-time, but whenever she comes to the screen, you can’t help but give your attention to her. She plays a heroin-addicted prostitute turned devout Christian and spreads the God’s Word. Her naïve and vulnerable character really stays with you the most.
Despite having an ensemble cast like this, it feels sometimes that some characters need more depth to feel the emotional connection to the audience. Although these actors have done their respective jobs quite well (as I said before), their performance can’t hide the loopholes in the screenplay.
The script by Ben Affleck himself has a fast pacing that can engage you throughout the film and give you many entertaining moments to remember. But so much of the script makes the film feel overly plotted, in my opinion. From the depiction of the time of Prohibition, the influence of Ku Klux Klan, gang wars, racial discriminations, etc.; all these things flow one after the another, sometimes in a pretty much hurried way. Also, in some places it seems some scenes are unnecessarily prolonged, especially the climax.
Elle Fanning in particular is a high point of the film. Photo: Warner Bros., 2016.
While watching the film, one can’t help but reference the other Prohibition Era film mentioned above, “The Untouchables.” I don’t know if Affleck took any inspiration from that late ‘80s film, but some references from the film can be seen. For example, we can see such scenes in the beginning when a man is thrown from the top of a building or blasted in a shop, which will remind you of “The Untouchables.”
The music by Harry Gregson-Williams is really good and sets the mood of the film. However, in some places it can feel too much and melodramatic, which makes the foreground scenes quite overly dramatic. And that’s why ultimately “Live by Night” is quite contrasting and fails to affect you on a deeper level. In other technical departments Robert Richardson’s cinematography is as usual very good and John Gonchor’s production design compliments that really well. It captures the atmosphere of the time period authentically.
Coming to the final verdict, “Live by Night” has the potential elements to become a memorable period gangster piece. It has all the pieces to become a terrific film, but the overtly plotted screenplay and melodramatic tone with larger than life characters with not much depth only affects you in a surface level. You will get entertainment from it, but sadly not much else.
