Film: Patriots Day

So - tonight's film on telly was one I'd never gotten around to seeing. Patriots Day, about the Boston Marathon bombing, stars Mark Wahlberg and J. K. Simmons as Boston cops, John Goodman as the police commissioner, Michelle Monaghan as Mark's wife, and Kevin Bacon as the FBI guy. And I decided to give it a shot, as the best thing on, at the time.

Very glad I did. It's cleverly made, and a pleasure to watch. Plenty of exposition at the start proves its worth later on, as seemingly unconnected characters all crop up later in the story, having bad things happen to them - and now that we've gotten to know them a bit, it makes their stories all the more poignant. We even get to know and love the cops - and, in these times when US police make the news for all the wrong reasons, it's lovely to think that there might be a part of the States where they care about the community, and are part of it.

So, the bombings take on a human angle. Not that we miss out on the fast-paced action, but we also get plenty of shots of teary police officers, tending to the victims, and respectfully hanging back rather than intrude in the aftermath, as the families get involved. And once the FBI arrive, and decide it's a terrorist incident - cue a massive manhunt. The two young brothers who committed the bombings are far from being experts at this, and make mistake after mistake - doesn't mean the job of tracking them down is easy though, and it's fascinating to see the effort that goes into it. And once they start to close in, and the brothers try to flee - wow, what an action sequence!

The happy patriotism of the tv commentators' narration of the early part of the race is echoed in a firmly patriotic determination, at the end of the film, to carry on. And it's touching, at the end, to see the real-life characters who were portrayed in the film being interviewed. "Boston Strong" is the slogan - and the film as a whole is a great advert for the city. Very enjoyable, and ultimately a feelgood movie. Go see, if you get the chance.

Tomorrow afternoon, another last-minute-advertised quiz by Cultureseekers - this one is Buildings in London That No Longer Exist. I don't expect to do very well in it, but it should be interesting!

And at midnight, my time - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is coming up trumps again, with Broadway Beginnings, a real-life guided walking tour of Broadway! Complete with some history, and a couple of ghost stories, I believe. Well, I was there years ago - it'll be lovely to see it again. Complicated payment mechanism though - we had to sign up, then message the organiser to send us the payment details. Well, I did, and she did. But both alternatives involved Canadian banks.. I tried using my regular international money transfer service, Azimo, but they wanted a routing number - and typically for Canada (as I remember from living there), it was impossible to get the right information online! She ultimately agreed to let me use Paypal..