'Patriots Day': Does Mark Wahlberg's fictional treatment add anything?
The terrorist bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon is given the high-powered treatment by director Peter Berg in 鈥淧atriots Day,鈥� starring Mark聽Wahlberg as a police sergeant whose breezy Marathon Day assignment聽quickly turns horrendous. The film, which swivels frantically between聽first responders, survivors, and investigators, has a percussive force, but its聽best scene, unbearably tense, is a quiet one, when a Chinese app designer聽(an excellent Jimmy O. Yang) is carjacked by the Tsarnaev brothers.
Nothing in this movie rises above the level of a good action thriller,聽though, and, especially when the final credits roll and you see聽heartbreaking footage of the actual event, you may wonder if the聽dramatization of such real-life attacks is more of a detriment than a boon. Grade:聽B- (Rated Rated R for violence, realistically graphic injury images, language throughout and some drug use.)
