Patriots Day 2016

     The Boston Marathon of 2013 was held on April 15.  This race is held every year and there are many participants.  There are also many police officers along the path of the race.  The Tsarnaev brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan have made two bombs using pressure cookers.  They place the bombs on the ground near the finish line.  The bombs cause the most damage to the legs and feet of the nearby victims.  There is even a bomb close to the stroller of a three year-old boy.  Later, he is separated from his parents for a time.  All city officials and all ambulances and medical personnel are called to the scene to tend to the injured and investigate.   

     Originally, I didn’t want to watch this film because I didn’t want to visually relive the bombings and injuries.  I thought it was better than I expected because the focus is more on catching the bombers.  Three people were killed and hundreds were wounded.  There is one fact that the Tsarnaev brothers may have overlooked in their plans.  The stores along the race path have security cameras.  A task force is set up quickly to view the footage and isolate the identities of the bombers.  Speed is of the essence because the brothers will probably try to get as far away from Boston as they can.  Unusually, the authorities allowed TV stations to air pictures of the brothers so they can get their identities right away.  The city of Boston is placed on lock down and everyone is asked to stay off the streets, sidewalks and remain in their homes with doors and windows locked.  There is a very BIG battle between the police and bombers in the ending scenes.  Some of the real victims are shown as they are now in the final scenes.  4* (I really liked this movie)

133 min, Crime directed by Peter Berg with Mark Whalberg, Michelle Monaghan, J.K. Simmons, Dicky Eklund Jr., Michael Marchand, Rhet Kidd, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, Rachel Brosnahan, Christopher O’Shea.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 81% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*, Amazon Video 4.4* out of 5* with 711 reviews, Metacritic 69 out of 100 with 42 critics 7.2 out of 10 with 103 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Boston, Quincy, Cambridge, Malden, Peabody, Weymouth, Farmingham, Somerville, Newton, Watertown, Massachusetts.  Two scripts were merged to create the screenplay, Boston Strong and Patriots Day.  Strong was more of the action thriller side of the story and Day was more factually correct.  A casting call resulted in a line stretching the entire quarter-mile length of Braintree Street in Alston.  Katherine Russell, the wife of Tamerlan Tsarnaev is shown a photo of him and it’s the actual photo that was later leaked to the public.  The Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2013 and the game was played the same day as the marathon.  The character played by Mark Walberg is fictional and created for the film.  He is a composite of many Boston policemen who worked the marathon.  Walberg didn’t need to practice his Boston accent, he is a Boston native and he lived in Dorchester.  Military police shown in the movie are actual Mps from the National Guard and some were the actual responders.  There is another film with the same title from 2004.