Gritty crime drama, Good Time is the new film from the directorial duo that is Ben and Joshua Safdie following the critical acclaim of Heaven Knows What in 2014. It has already been included in the Cannes Official Selection, picking up a lot of international interest as a result, so it could be one to add to your watch list.
Starring Robert Pattinson (The Lost City Of Z) in a story that feels like a modern day take on John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men, it’s another return to the mean New York streets for the brothers. The recent arrival of the trailer below paints a pretty grim portrait for the characters involved, so you should expect dark times for the Palme d’Or hopeful.
Release date
The UK release date had initially been slated for the 11th August 2017, coinciding with the arrival of the film in theatres in the US, but, it didn’t go on to be listed with any cinemas. However, it has now been confirmed to be coming out in the UK on the 17th November 2017, which is a fairly hefty three months after its box office debut in the US.
It’ll have some strong competition to go up against in the UK with Justice League out on the same weekend, but with so many Robert Pattinson fans and the serious film fans’ vote, it could still do well.
Film length: 100 minutes.
Story
The plot centres on adrenaline junkie wannabe bandit Constantine “Connie” Nikas and his brother Nick who take to a life of crime in a rushed bank robbery. The decision sees their future spiralling further out of control when the job goes wrong and Nick gets picked up by the police.
Despite being on the run from the law himself, Connie decides to do all that he can to get his brother out of jail. You can see from the trailer below that this includes taking on more crime as he tries to raise the funds needed to rescue his brother before anything bad happens to him in jail. As with all best laid plans, though, it doesn’t look like Lady Luck is smiling on Connie, but the question is how will things finish up for the young brothers.
Cast
Robert Pattinson leads the cast as elder brother Connie and from the look of the trailer below it’s set to be a significant performance from the Twilight star, who continues to take on challenging roles. He’s joined on-screen by director Benny Safdie as his younger brother Nick, who appears to have some level of learning difficulties. The cast also includes Barkhad Abdi (Blade Runner 2049), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Buddy Duress and Taliah Webster.
Good Time film poster:
Age rating
Good Time has been given an age rating in the UK of 15 by the BBFC with “strong language, violence, drug misuse, and sex”.
Production
In addition to directing the film with his brother Benny, Josh Safdie has also written the screenplay and edited the film with Ronald Bronstein who he collaborated with in the same way for Heaven Knows What. The original score for the production has been created by Oneohtrix Point Never, AKA experimental musician Daniel Lopatin. The film has also been produced by Sebastian Bear-McClard, Oscar Boyson, Terry Dougas and Paris Kasidocostas Latsis, with Sean Price Williams as the director of photography. You can see more about the film at the official Twitter page.
First impressions
From the look of the trailer, Good Time is set to be an impressive window on the seeming necessity of desperation and the destruction that it leaves in its wake. It was up against a lot of other great films in the Cannes 2017 Official Selection, with the Palme d’Or going to art satire, The Square. However, it looks like a genuine film that would sit well on your watch list, especially with the intensity of the new trailer.
It has already picked up strong reviews following its release in the US and screenings at Cannes, with average review scores of 4/5. It should be able to build on this with the arrival of the film in UK cinemas in November, despite being up against Justice League in the box office.
