After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Constantine Nikas (Robert Pattinson) embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City’s underworld in an increasingly desperate-and dangerous-attempt to get his brother out of jail.
Good Time has gotten lots of buzz ever since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but I was ultimately let down by what I got here. A24 is known for releasing masterful films with distinctive and creative styles, but the directors’ vision here didn’t work for me. Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Jason Leigh are both great in their roles and carry their scenes very well. Pattinson disappears in his role and Leigh is able to make her scenes interesting, but the overly shaky cinematography and choppy editing toolots of the interest out of the film. Some scenes are written well, and the movie is written as a nonstop ride of sorts, but the film never stops to show us why the characters are doing what they’re doing or why they’re in these situations. The film makes too many cuts throught scenes that could have been more interesting of the camerawork wasn’t so handheld and distracting. The retro score is also edited badly into the film and even annoying and unnecessary in some scenes. We are never given time to feel for our characters or understand why we should root for them, and some of these characters barely served a point. There are lots of scenes that are supposed to be human conversations to make us care for our characters more, but none of that really got me engaged. The intensity in the final act didn’t keep me thrilled at all, and the ending is extremely predictable. By the end, even as the credits roll over the final scene, we are left with nothing to think about or reflect on about what this movie offered. It starts out as a film about brotherhood, and by the end not even the writers know what it’s about. I love crime movies and I think this movie had lots of potential, but despite the critical acclaim, the great acting, and a few well-written scenes, Good Time was ultimately forgettable and failed to live up to the promise of its title.