Live By Night

LIVE BY NIGHT(15)

D: Ben Affleck

Warner Bros/Ratpac-Dune/Appian Way/Pearl Street (Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson & Jennifer Todd)

US 2016

129 mins

Crime/Drama

W: Ben Affleck [based on the novel by Dennis Lehane]

DP: Robert Richardson

Ed: William Goldenberg

Mus: Harry Gregson-Williams

PD: Jess Gonchor

Cos: Jacqueline West

Ben Affleck (Joe Coughlin), Elle Fanning (Loretta Figgis), Brendan Gleeson (Thomas Coughlin), Remo Girone (Maso Pescatore), Sienna Miller (Emma Gould), Zoe Saldana (Graciela Corrales), Chris Messina (Dion Bartolo)

Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, whose previous titles Mystic River and Shutter Island were turned into successful movies by Clint Eastwood & Martin Scorsese.

Unfortunately, Ben Affleck doesn't have the same magic touch, and the plot doesn't add up to much more than a revenge gangster story set against a prohibition-era backdrop. 

Ben Affleck in the lead does little more than his charming man act, but at least his performance is better than Sienna Miller, who constantly looks like she's sucking a lemon as she delivers her Oirish accent. 

Live By Night is aesthetically pleasing, however, with close attention paid to period design and costume, but this alone isn't worth the price of a ticket.

The film bombed at the box office, and though it's not totally awful, you can understand why it lacked appeal with cinema audiences.

4/10