Patriots Day (2016)

It's hard to believe the Boston Marathon bombings took place ten years ago, and even more astonishing that Peter Berg's retread of the events was released only three years after the attacks.

Patriots Day focuses on Mark Wahlberg's fictional Sergeant Tommy Saunders, who is close to the exploding bombs when they detonate, and over the next few days helps lead the manhunt of the two suspects. Berg's re-staging of the bombings, very early in the film, are to be applauded for their harrowing nature; seeing the destruction and carnage caused up close is really shocking and Berg captures the scene cogently.

Patriots Day is Berg's third collaboration with Wahlberg following Lone Survivor (2013) and Deepwater Horizon (2016) both of which were very astute depictions of true-life events. Berg has spent the last decade slowly becoming Paul Greengrass' understudy in this respect, but if that sounds like damning with faint praise, it's not meant to; Berg is a very fine director and doesn't quite get the plaudits he should. It should be said that among Boston-based publications, Patriots Day is considered to glamourise the events it's based upon, and although critically that's generally not the sense, it's an interesting and important take on Berg's representation.

For me, Patriots Day is highly engrossing, at times harrowing (and rightly so), and although it occasionally toes a somewhat formulaic line, Berg cements himself as one of the best in the business in taking on distressing real-life events and respectfully and effectively adapting them into a cinematic form. 7.4/10