Simon’s review published on Letterboxd:
Good Time stars Robert Pattinson (The Lost City of Z, Cosmopolis, The Rover), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Road to Perdition), Benny Safdie, and is directed by Josh & Benny Safdie.
Plot: After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Constantine "Connie" Nikas (Robert Pattinson) embarks on a twisted odyssey through the city's underworld in an increasingly desperate—and dangerous—attempt to get his brother Nick (Benny Safdie) out of jail. Over the course of one adrenalized night, Connie finds himself on a mad descent into violence and mayhem as he races against the clock to save his brother and himself, knowing their lives hang in the balance.
I'm going to be honest when I say that Good Time wasn't a film I was originally interested in. Yes, the trailers looked very good, but nothing really grabbed me. It was only right after the movie released that I got interested due to the word of mouth going around it. As time went on, I became more and more interested. So actually going into Good Time, I was very optimistic, despite not having seen Josh & Benny Safdie's previous film, Heaven Knows What.
Starting with the performances, Robert Pattinson gives an excellent, career best performance here. This movie doesn't work without him. He completely transforms into Connie. His character isn't really likable (due to the script), but he completely sells the role. It is by far one of the best performances of 2017.
We also get a great performance from Jennifer Jason Leigh as Connie's girlfriend, Corey. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, but she is great when she's on screen. Co-director Benny Safdie does a great job as Nick. The rest of the cast is good as well.
Other than Pattinson's performance, what makes Good Time work is the writing and direction. For the most part, the writing and direction are really great. Connie is a pretty well written character for the most part. He might not be likable (which may turn people off), but we are given at least one reason to somewhat care for him.
The first act of this film, particularly the first 20 minutes or so, is flawless. From the acting, to the direction, to the writing, to the pacing, to the editing, it's literal cinematic perfection. Then, multiple characters start to show up, and they aren't particularly all that interesting or have a lot of depth/development, which is probably my main gripe with the film, as it takes out some of the momentum. I must also point out that even if this film is for the most part well written and well directed throughout, the second and third acts are directionally inferior compared to the first. Luckily, the film didn't really go downhill. Those 2/3rds are just not as well focused.
Moving on, from the visuals to the score, the look and feel of this film reminded me of a video game, so I'm going to say this straight up: this film is like "Grand Theft Auto: The Movie." This will turn a lot of people off, and it already has. And I completely understand why. The way the film goes fast paced, then slow paced, then fast paced again, then slow paced again can be irritating for some. It worked for me, but I can see why it would bother others.
Going to the technical elements, those are some of the stronger highlights of Good Time. The cinematography is absolutely stellar. From what I remember, this film has this really cool red color palette, and I liked it a lot. The film is also pretty well edited. In a year of plenty of great film scores, Daniel Lopatin's score is probably one of my favorites of the year. As I've mentioned, it legitimately reminds me of a video game score.
In terms of gripes, like I said: the film introduces several characters that don't have much depth/development, and it takes out some of the momentum. HOWEVER, Robert Pattinson's excellent performance, the score, and the technical elements partially make up for that.
Overall, I must say that I loved Good Time. It's an amazing film (one of the best of the year actually), and I heavily admire Josh & Benny Safdie for doing something different. Most heist-thrillers these days are super generic, but this film is quite the opposite of that. Movies like these are exactly why I love A24 so much. They are often putting out quality content with some sort of originality behind them, and Good Time is no exception to that.
Good Time is an amazing time, and I highly recommend it. After seeing this film, I'm very curious to see what Josh & Benny Safdie do next.
9/10
