Good Time

Independent filmmaking brothers Benny and Josh Safdie are making it their trademark to depict the desperate, toxic underworld of contemporary New York, but with the absurdist heist drama Good Time it seems their established template might be breaking out to find a much larger audience than their previous four features.

If this does prove to be the case, much credit will go to Robert Pattinson for bringing his A-list spotlight to the challenging role of Connie, a charismatic criminal and sociopathic manipulator of people, including his developmentally disabled brother Nick played by Ben Safdie, and his fragile, sometime girlfriend Corey, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh in a small but memorable part. For some, Good Time may come as a surprise choice for the often clean-cut Pattinson, but those who have paid attention to his post Twilight career will be aware of several esoteric and leftfield projects, from last year’s well received The Childhood of a Leader, to his David Cronenberg collaborations Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars.

Pattinson is very good, dominating the screen for much of the film as the action plays out in almost real time, beginning with a misguided bank robbery, and followed by its spiralling consequences, including Nick’s incarceration. The relentless breathlessness of Connie’s course is hard to resist, but I couldn’t help but feel there was a more interesting film to be made by further exploring the relationship between the brothers. Instead Nick is sidelined for the second half of the film while we join Connie on his gripping but senseless quest to evade his comeuppance. There is some nuance to hint at the substance and understanding between the two, beyond a fraternal instinct, but not enough for my liking. When Nick isn’t involved there is often no one for us to easily root for and empathise with.

An easy comparison to reach for would be something like Mean Streets, and Good Time certainly evokes some of the grime of that great New York film, and a comparable central relationship; the seediness of another Scorsese classic Taxi Driver would be another reasonable reference point, but my personal experience as an audience member brought to mind a film with a very different setting, Leaving Las Vegas, and not even because of the nature of the characters necessarily, but the film elicited in me a similarly powerful feeling of complete helplessness in witnessing the completely destructive dynamic of the relationships play out on screen. Without anyone possessing the will or the capacity to intervene in Connie’s ruinous behaviour, most of the film plays out like watching a poisonous vortex slowly dragging in more and more people. Visually, the Safdie’s distinctive stylised approach made me think at times of Nicolas Winding Refn, they depict the film’s sleazebag settings in a gaudy, hyper fashion reminiscent of Drive and Only God Forgives, albeit with more frenetic use of the camera. And like Drive, the action in Good Time is matched by a pulsating electronic soundtrack that expertly sets the tone of the film, provided here by Daniel Lopatin.

The Safdies certainly look like rising stars, and their talent is there to witness in every scene, especially the masterful concluding shot. Working with the likes of Robert Pattinson is likely to precipitate that rise, while allowing the British actor to prove his chops and explore a new range, potentially drawing some new audience members to independent filmmaking at the same time. In this case, everyone is a winner.