AndersonVision Best Films of 2017: #13 – Good Time (A24)
GOOD TIME REVIEWED
“Good Time” builds upon one of the major themes of 2017. The scum of the Earth is rising to the top and we’re being forced to understand them. Connie is a criminal who uses his old hag girlfriend, his mentally disabled brother and any number of minorities that cross his path. After staging a bizarre robbery, the goofballs get split up due to the legal system. What floored me was that I suddenly give a damn about the two leads from the Twilight Saga. But, let’s get back to the movie.
The film forces you to relate to the unlikable. While that might be asking much for a year where Nazis came back like Hydra just invaded the Federal Government (spoiler alert: IT HAPPENED!), the Safdie Brothers make it work. I don’t want anything good to happen for anyone, but I understand the hustle. The film plays like if Scorsese tried to remake After House after snorting a line of cocaine and trying to make the lead into the polar opposite of Cucklord Griffin Dunne.
So, what’s the grand takeaway? People are garbage, bad things happen and the weak are cattle to be slaughtered for the benefit of others. When you can embrace the evil, you can understood the good. “Good Time” understands that and pays it off in every reel.
FILM STATS
RELEASE DATE: 8/25/17
