Review: Good Time (2017)
Directors: Josh and Benny Safdie.
Producers: Paris Latsis; Terry Dougas, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Oscar Boyson.
Written by: Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein (Uncut Gems).
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Barkhad Abdi.
Cinematography: Sean Price Williams.
Plot: Set in New York City and parts of Long Island, the film initially follows Constantine “Connie” Nikas and his developmentally disabled brother, Nickolas or “Nick”. Estranged from their grandmother due to her treatment of Nick, the adult brothers attempt illegalities in order to get funding for a farm in Virginia, where Nick can live a liberated life. This leads to consequences; and Connie scrambling to evade the law while trying to reunite with his best friend, his brother.
Think Uncut Gems in its Alpha phase. This movie has a lot of similarities to the later work of the Safdie brothers. The similarities were such that I deduced it was their work before the opening sequence confirmed that for me. The plot is simple, yet effective à la Fargo. A plan is made to achieve an aim; the plan goes wrong somehow, leaving the aim either not reached or achieved in a reckless fashion. This then leads to further consequences. They made this formula their own in ways I go into later in the review, but what I really liked was Act 1 being the movie opening extended to a 15-minute sequence that sets the foundation and the tone for the rest of the movie.
Themes: The Safdie brothers explored the abuse of the mentally ill by family members. Nick was abused by his grandmother, and said so himself. Nick got visibly emotional having to speak about his experiences with said grandmother, this emotional state indicates trauma. The directors also briefly scrutinize the stigma attached to the disabled, with Connie showing overt disgust at another disabled person as he walked with Nick down a corridor. Connie then asked Nick if that’s what he thought he was, which Nick didn’t hear. This indicates Connie sees disabled people through a negative spectrum. He treats Nick normally, which may be good, but this does not acknowledge Nick’s reality at times.
Poor decision-making takes center stage in this movie, and shapes how a lot of the story goes. Connie makes a string of poor choices throughout the movie. He puts his brother in unnecessary danger and his greed leads to the initial plan going awry. He then causes more pandemonium in his life and the lives of others via lies and deceit, as well as more illegalities. Nick also exhibits bad decision-making in moments of tension i.e. running from the cops before his guilt had been established, thereby strengthening the chances of establishing guilt. While speaking on illegal acts, the movie gave us some insight into how dye packs work against robbers. Suffice to say, they are quite effective. Lastly, the dynamics of a broken family are examined. This is a dynamic the directors understand on a personal level, having been children of divorce. Siblings becoming closer as a result of family friction, as seen in the movie, exemplifies the Safdies understanding of the subject matter. The film then examines other outcomes of family friction such as homelessness, with Connie and Nick having nowhere to go after feuding with their Grandmother. The movie never explicitly states that the brothers have no home, but their actions lead the viewer to infer it i.e. home is never mentioned, Connie lies to get shelter. This homelessness may have necessitated the illegalities that subsequently occur, and probably did.
Character Development: There isn’t an ensemble cast of major characters. The main character is Connie, played by Robert Pattinson. Pattinson is more widely-known for his roles in one Harry Potter movie (Goblet of Fire) and later, the Twilight saga. He had played the popular; homecoming king type in HP, and a brooding, mysterious supernatural in Twilight. Now, he plays a more nuanced, human character in Connie. The other characters are significant to specific acts and scenes, but Pattinson is our compass in this world for major parts of the film. Connie cares about his brother, and this is evident from how he treats and speaks to Nick during the movie. Connie exhibited patience and understanding whilst speaking to him; and also provided encouragement and guidance when Nick became flustered. However, this doesn’t equate to Connie being a good person or an upstanding citizen. He is shown to be mischievous, using lies and deceit as a means to an end i.e. lying to his girlfriend to get a significant loan, lying to a kind lady for shelter etc. Connie sees individuals as pawns to be used for his benefit, and this entitlement is evident in his behavior towards other people. Connie is also seen not to mind turning to violence if requisite to his personal survival.
Nick isn’t as well-rounded as Connie as an individual in the film, but we still see facets of his personality. Nick is shown to be emotional; and not slow in expressing sadness, confusion or anger. One of the few inconsistencies in the movie is there are certain scenes where Nick’s character trait can be implied but is said instead e.g. Nick tells us he doesn’t like being talked about behind his back. There are then scenes that imply correctly, rather than telling us i.e. Nick had a fight with his grandma and threw an object. When asked whether he meant to harm her, he gazes downward and shifts his head in a guilty fashion, saying nothing. Consistency in showing and not telling was almost seamless, apart from that part. Lastly, Nick is shown to understand social cues despite his challenges, via him misspeaking and self-correcting the mistaken utterance within moments of it occurring. This was in order to avoid further scrutiny from his counselor. It’s important to note that Benny Safdie plays Nick, while also part-directing with his brother. Both brothers have acted in multiple short films, which just showcases their versatility.
Side-note: Diversity in this movie was quite good. Set in NYC but still fantastic to see the melting pot on camera frequently.
Direction: The movie is shot primarily through an Arricam Lite Camera with 35mm film, and the lenses were Zeiss super speed. I say primarily and not strictly due to the fact that some shots definitely utilized technical electronics such as drones. These drones provided wide shots of the NYC skyline in relation to our characters locations, either in stasis or while moving in cars towards the next location in the plot. The drones would either zoom into the location of the characters or widen in order to illustrate the surrounding environment. In terms of the Zeiss super speed lens, it was used when zooming into an actor’s face to fully convey the emotion of the actor i.e. Nick’s sorrowful face speaking about his grandma in act 1. Via YouTube , I was enlightened on the ability of the lens to either focus on the central part of a shot, or the peripherals surrounding said central part. The director and cinematographer also used wide shots inside the homes and apartments of the movie. This was so we have an idea of the socioeconomic standing of the homeowner, which was relevant to Connie at the time. However, it was sometimes just a functional shot to give the audience an idea of the environment.
The Safdie brothers dabble in continuous shots at various points throughout the movie, with these shots usually short and only a minute or two i.e. In act 2, with Connie walking into the hospital. They did have a longer continuous shot later on, when Connie is sheltering in a kind lady’s house, plotting on how to resolve a mishap. This was about 5 minutes, and I loved every second of it. The camera was also often at the back of characters, giving the audience a first-person perspective on the aforementioned characters’ viewpoints. In terms of cuts, they were used constantly to illustrate disharmony and rising volatility in tense, high-pressure scenes. These cuts influenced the pacing of the movie; not too frequent to the point that it’s uncomfortable to watch, but served to raise tension and convey high-emotion/high-stakes. Also, as the movie is set in a 24–36-hour period, it then feels even more relentless. Mind you, it started getting intense around the sixth minute of the movie.
The costume design for Connie is on point. His ensemble includes red for a lot of the movie, indicating danger or volatility. This was quite apt in relation to his character’s personality. Certain scenes also illustrated Connie’s personality in different ways, bathing half his face in red light and the bottom half shaded in black during certain night scenes. The red indicated danger or a threat while the dark shade implied mischief or sketchiness. These scenes were used when Connie became threatening towards someone, or when he was attempting to hoodwink an individual for selfish means. In terms of music, the score has a retro feel to it, with what I think is a synthesizer used to produce the futuristic rhythm. It was actually the score that let me know it was a Safdie movie. The score was created by Oneohtrix Point Never or Daniel Lopatin, the same individual who made the score for Uncut Gems, which I had seen prior to this film. The film name sequence also has an ’80s feel to it, like a Sega game. This fit perfectly with the score. Tension was handled decently by the directors and cinematographer, especially when the crimes were being committed. The movie was allowed to pump the brakes a bit, as the tension came from waiting and the passage of time. The cuts were still constant through the passage of time, so this maintained the high-pace even during slow-burning scenes.
Feels like a 100-minute heart attack. B+
