The new film by the Safdie brothers, Good Time, finally found its proper venue - for me. The Roxy is a beautiful, Paris-inspired movie theatre in the basement of the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca that shows classic, indie and other creative films for $12 a pop. Red curtains, red seats, a little bar – there’s nothing like it in NYC. They also have a jazz club called The Django right next door, and the High & Mighty Brass Band was blasting away, people laughing and you could hear it more than faintly in the cinema.
That is, until the movie started. The soundtrack by Oneohtrix Point Never aka Daniel Lopatin was so loud and full of ominous synths and buzzing sounds to make you nervous that the good times of the crowd next door dissolved into the swoon of dread, tension and fascination that is Good Time, the film.
The name of the film is so ironic as to be completely absurd, beyond sarcasm, beyond even trend-speech. No one was laughing! It was not funny at all, although I would say there is some intended dark humor. A definite stab at a serious, experimental type film, yet with a well-worn, near cliched plot, and of course, a twist. There is a big star in the main role, Robert Pattinson who is very good. So far as I understand, the Safdies do not approach the happy, peppy and bursting with love side of things although the story moves at high speed and centers on the devotion of Connie (Pattinson) to his developmentally disabled brother Nick (Benny Safdie). For undisclosed reasons, Connie decides to rob a bank but being completely untrustworthy, friendless, or both, he enlists Nick as his accomplice. No spoiler alerts here but I hate spoilers, so… The film also includes the considerable talents of actors Barkhad Abdi and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and a highly credible and central turn by real life hood Buddy Duress.
The lurid but effective cinematography is by Sean Price Williams, an indie darling who has shot forty or more films and has a list of his favorite one thousand films that is known in the industry. It would seem like it might be a good time for him to test his obvious chops on something that is not so circumscribed in terms of its intended audience.
The title song “The Pure and the Damned,” is very similar in ways to “Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed. The song, though, added emotional depth to the film, albeit it right at the end. It helps you to feel something in what has otherwise been a bleak and breakneck ride. It is sung or rather crooned by no other than Iggy Pop. It’s not exactly Funhouse but the movie is so full of funhouse ideated riffs that a long, central scene actually takes place in a funhouse.
I imagine there will be film school papers written about Good Time. It takes place in Queens which is a great start and that might even get some young NYers to visit the place or at least think about it. I didn’t really recognize the Queens of the movie but the locations were perfect and included other Tri-State area locales, as well. Way to go, Safdie Brothers! Nice job. -Christian Botta