Movie Review: Live by Night

Live by Night, sleep in the cinema. Ben Affleck’s snoozy follow-up to Argo is more like Ambien.

Every esteemed director has a misstep in their early years, and since we’re calling Ben Affleck an ‘esteemed director’ now, I suppose this is his.

Live by Night, Affleck’s second adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel after Gone Baby Gone, features a rogues’ gallery of appealing supporting stars in Prohibition period-perfect suits and dresses, and little else that’s particularly special or intriguing to latch on to.

Perhaps it’s for those who weren’t numbed by Boardwalk Empire’s laborious pace. Or, for those who were but stuck with it anyway, and are now looking to be bored in just two hours instead.

Affleck, besides adapting the screenplay and working behind the camera, stars as Joe Coughlin, a small-time crook in 1920s Boston. After sparking up a relationship with Emma Gould (Sienna Miller), a moll belonging to Irish gangster Albert White (Robert Glenister), he’s beaten within an inch of his life and twisted into a much darker version of himself.

Hellbent on revenge and willing to wait for it, he sides with Italian don Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone), promising to build up the casino business in Tampa, to squeeze his rival White out of Miami. He faces only more obstacles in Florida, with the KKK and the Church threatening to unravel his business plans with far more ferocity than any old-school gangster. This is how I can best condense the plot, which stutters and restarts more frequently than an old jalopy, and is about as consistent.

Affleck’s no thespian, but at least he’s more suited to broad-shouldered heavies with a snarky quip for every situation than spectrum-straddling maths assassin. One of his rare skills as a director is knowing how to use Ben Affleck, the Movie Star. The answer, of course, is to put him next to countless character actors.

A portly Chris Messina plays Joe’s right-hand man; Chris Cooper and Brendan Gleeson turn up as (mostly) honest cops; Elle Fanning brings her Neon Demon detachment to the part of zonked-out religious leader; actual Miguel rocks up as a Cuban club-owner. The list goes on.

Zoe Saldana is solid as Graciela Corrales, another Cuban entrepreneur who catches Joe’s eye, and who is frequently caught and leeringly framed by cinematographer Robert Richardson’s camera. However, there’s little for her to do except be an emotional support to Joe. Given her handiness with a weapon in other films, you wish she’d join in on the final melee and leave a real impression.

Episodic and flat, despite Richardson’s gorgeous camerawork, Live by Night quite simply never comes to life, instead ebbing and flowing without any sense of progression or build-up.

Affleck’s narration soaks the proceedings, explaining way too much; suggestive of a final edit that was cut to ribbons for time’s sake. (Its 129-minute length feels more like 180, and probably would’ve been better suited as six hour-long instalments on Netflix.)

A spectacularly photographed final shoot-out pumps some blood into the picture’s veins. Yet, Live by Night can barely muster the energy to fulfil the first part of its title.

2.5/5

In cinemas now. Rated MA15+ for strong coarse language.

Photo: Warner Bros