REVIEW: Live By Night Gets Lost In The Night

Live By Night is the newest lackluster film courtesy of Ben Affleck. The flick relied so heavily on its shootouts and action sequences it forgot to bring a plot along for the ride. Starring Ben Affleck (who also wrote and produced the film), Sienna Miller, Elle Fanning, and Zoe Saldana, Live by Night tells the story of an outlaw who is drawn into the mob world. Based on the 2012 book by Dennis Lehane, Affleck’s character, Joe teams with the Italian mob after the head of the Irish mob offs his lady (Miller).

Threads of story crop up as the film goes on, but those threads are never explored in full. Instead they are cast aside for one gun fight after another. With talent such as Affleck, Saldana, and Miller in this film, one would think director Affleck would have utilized them better to create characters the audience can bond with, root for, or despise. None of this happens, many of the actors in the film play characters that are either underused or
appear as fluff.

Miller does a nice job as Emma, the low-class lady Affleck’s character is in love with, who also happens to be dating the head of the Irish mob. Saldana’s character is completely underused. It’s as if the only goal for her was to showcase the fashion of the time. Fanning is a nice addition only for the fact that she takes to the part so readily. Her character is a bit of a nuisance, but Fanning does a nice job as the broken born-again Christian.

It could be Affleck was overstretched in this film with the many hats he had to wear, or the expectation is the audience would be entertained solely by the loud gunfights; regardless, Live by Night is a film that will make you wish you had stayed home.

Grade: C-