Crime

Thriller

Drama

Good Time

Elara Pictures

Rhea Films

United States of America

English

Robert Pattinson

Benny Safdie

Buddy Duress

Taliah Webster

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Barkhad Abdi

Necro

Peter Verby

Saida Mansoor

Gladys Mathon

Rose Gregorio

Eric Paykert

Astrid Corrales

Rachel Black

Hirakish Ranasaki

Maynard Nicholl

Ben Edelman

Laurence Blum

Jason Harvey

Robert Clohessy

Michael Kaufman

Goran Spadina

Michael McClard

Eloisa Santos

Bryan Seslow

Craig muMs Grant

George Lee Miles

Kate Halpern

Christopher Kirk

Leticia Ortega

Souléymane Sy Savané

Mahadeo Shivraj

Dorothi Fox

Ratnesh Dubey

Tessa O'Conner

Jim Handley

Cliff Moylan

Peter Linari

Chris Breslin

Evonne Walton

Lewis Dodley

Tara Lynn Wagner

Jim Dzurenda

Roy James Wilson

Brendan M. Burke

Jordan Valdez

Laura Sledge

Jerome Frazier

Javaughn Swindell

Dion McBean

Sean Miller

Benny DeVincenzi

Joey McDevitt

Daniel Chung

Michael Shershenovich

Azul Rodriguez

Mr Green

Jarvis

Roi Cydulkin

Mavrin Kirill

Scrooge

KJ Rottweiler

Terrance Williams

A-F-R-O

Kim Carter

Gianluca Cirafici

Megan Dodd

Samantha Elisafon

Melissa Gonzalez

Rodney Hankins

Carol Hoverman

Andrew Kader

Marissa Lelogeais

Michael Lorch

Michael Melendez

Christian Patane

Ari Sloan

Bakari Williams

Aubrie Therrien

Sebastian Bear-McClard

Phil Cappadora

Luke Eberl

Marcos A. Gonzalez

Edgar Morais

Shaun Rey

Sacco Sarkis

Luca De Massis

Lance de los Reyes

FKA twigs

Adam Teninbaum

Patrick Duncan

Michael Glen

Josh Safdie

Sean Price Williams

Brendan McHugh

Jennifer Venditti

Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis

Toby Sells

Daniel Lopatin

Stephanie Meurer

Miyako Bellizzi

Terry Dougas

Ronald Bronstein

Oscar Boyson

Alexis Varouxakis

Mordechai Rubinstein

Jessica Jade Jacob

Audrey Turner

Sam Lisenco

Jean-Luc De Fanti

Anouck Sullivan

Gordon Bell

Michele Mansoor

Jack Lewars

Jacob Lavin

Eléonore Hendricks

Wyatt McBride

Jordan Sirek

Jeff Cornell

Alexandre Khondji

Erin DeWitt

Kyle Casey

Drew Johnson

Timothy Cobb Passarella

Kevin McDonald

Alec Nickel

Dean Neistat

Leslie Bloome

Evan Mangiamele

Sean Gradwell

Bryce Biederman

Mary Beth Minthorn

Jeremy Sample

Ryan Price

Daniel April

Aaron Brown

Jae Matthews

Hunter Zimny

Ryan Collison

Greg Wattkis

Peter Buntaine

Jack McDonald

Nick Seaman

Blake LaRue

Duccio Fabbri

Ashley K. Thomas

Bayley Sweitzer

Joanna Fang

Christopher Messina

Andy Hensler

Patrick Southern

William J. Hopper

Jesse Ruuttila

Kali Riley

Peter Wallack

Stephen Phelps

Daniel DeVore

Jason Mello

Geraldine Barón

Madeline Sadowski

Molly Harris Campbell

Gimly

Never before has somebody drinking a bottle of Sprite made me wince in sympathetic pain and terror.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

I can only assume people were joking when they told me Good Time is a good time. It most certainly is not a good time! Good Time is very uncomfortable, anger inducing, and depressing and I enjoyed every minute of it. Easily the highlight is the color palate with most scenes being lit by neon lights or the glow of a TV or a distant street light. As dark as the movie went tonally, seeing Robert Pattinson's face lit up by a neon red light is beautiful. Personal preference, but I'll watch a movie just for the neon lighting and Good Time uses it as a great counter to the dirty feel of everything else. The story was my least favorite part, but the acting, cinematography and score work so well that it didn't bother me that much. I say the acting it great, but really I mean that Robert Pattinson and Benny Safdie are great, everyone else is really just a way to move the plot forward and are fine (except Barkhad Abdi who just doesn't connect). If you've only seen Pattinson in the Twilight Saga (I'll admit that's the only time I've seen him) where no one acts and just recites lines with dead eyes, this is such a departure and he really delivers a believable and authentic performance. The story isn't perfect, it's got some pacing problems and a few "Why are they doing that?" moments, but it's a very compelling story that is just so dark and grim, but still manages to carry heart. The plot sets Pattinson as the protagonist, trying to help his mentally challenged brother after they leave home but it's really complicated whether or not you want to root for him. The ending isn't what I expected or wanted, but it is a solid ending and it works for the film. Good Time is not a movie that most people will appreciate or even want to watch if they know what it's really about, but if you can respect a fully dark and bleak film that doesn't let up it is a worthwhile film that has something to say.

Repo Jack

A gritty, anxiety-inducing heist-gone-wrong film capturing the kinetic energy and depressing vibe of those eeking out a living (legal and illegal) in the big city. 

The acting is phenomenal with a powerhouse performance by Robert Pattinson and a surprisingly poignant performance by co-director Benny Safdie who plays Pattinson's brother. 

A wild ride.

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots

The sleazy, bleak, and primal low budget crime thriller “Good Time” feels like a cinematic punch in the face. The more I think about this film through my figurative black eye, the more I like it. It’s rare to find a movie so confident and wholly committed to its bleak tone, bursting onto the screen in its opening scene with a disarming, bold swagger. This one is reminiscent of Scorsese’s early works but it never once feels like a cheap rip-off of the auteur.

A nearly unrecognizable Robert Pattinson (kudos to him for taking on challenging and unglamorous roles like this) is incredible as scumbag Connie, a low level criminal who has industrious and ambitious ideas but is far from smart. After persuading his developmentally challenged brother Nick (a fabulously understated Benny Safdie) to serve as his wing man in a bank robbery, everything goes wrong and his brother is captured and arrested while Connie runs free. The next hour is spent riding shotgun with this despicable man as he tries to free Nick from police custody.

Connie traverses the city streets throughout a sleepless night and grows increasingly trapped in this nightmare. As the evening progresses, he becomes even more desperate and begins mentally or physically harming everyone who crosses his path, from an amusement park security guard (Barkhad Abdi), a teenage girl (Taliah Webster) and her immigrant grandmother, and a newly paroled drug dealer (Buddy Duress) with a soda bottle full of LSD.

Connie isn’t a nice guy. He exploits his brother as a criminal pawn, he verbally abuses his unstable girlfriend Corey (Jennifer Jason Leigh), he has harsh racist tendencies that subtly manifest in different ways, and he takes advantage of nearly everyone who crosses his path. He’s not really nice to anybody except his brother and a dog, but Pattinson is so incredibly amazing in the role that I actually became disgusted with myself as I inexplicably began rooting for this amoral, predatory man to get away from the cops. This is one of those defining moments for an actor, and Pattinson is unforgettable. Comparisons to a young Al Pacino are inevitable.

This film oozes indie spirit throughout and feels intimately personal, which isn’t a surprise because bothers Benny and Josh Safdie had a hand in just about every aspect of the movie, from writing and directing to editing, sound design, and acting. The film’s phenomenal sound is particularly effective, with a harsh, pressure cooker of an original score to the ear-splitting sound effects that serve as a mirror to the overall discomfort and discord of the script. The story is simple yet filled with so many abrupt narrative jolts that it shocked and surprised me more than a few times.

The only criticism I have for the entire film (besides its irritatingly ironic title) is the epilogue, which I won’t spoil in this review. It has a pronounced tacked-on vibe, an unnecessary piece that the directors should’ve cut but just couldn’t let it go. Yeah, I get what they’re trying to say here, but there’s no sense in beating audiences over the head with it. We’re much smarter than that.

This movie accurately echoes the desperation in last year’s bleak “Hell or High Water,” telling a similarly mesmerizing story of an American man who has nothing to lose and will therefore take anything he can. The grimy urban landscape of New York City manifests itself through intense, textural, dreamlike visuals that feel more like a nightmare. Every scene is alive with a squalid vibrancy and a pulsating tension, yet it’s beautifully done and never showy.

“Good Time” may have a morally repugnant protagonist, an unpleasant narrative, and an unsettling vibe, but it’s also one of the best movies of the year.

Best Movies

Good Time

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Robert Pattinson

Benny Safdie

Buddy Duress

Taliah Webster

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Barkhad Abdi

Necro

Peter Verby

Saida Mansoor

Gladys Mathon

Box office

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