Film Club #1 - Good Time *Spoilers from post 12*

johnny_ultimate

Welcome to Film Club - where the denizens of the boards.ie film forum watch a particular film and discuss it in depth (hopefully)!

Film 1 - Good Time

Dir: Ben & Joshua Safdie
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Ben Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVyGCxHZ_Ko

Netflix link: https://www.netflix.com/title/80191344
Also available on iTunes, Google Play and other VOD services

Viewing notes: Sound and music play a really important role in the film, so if possible a decent sound system or good pair of headphones are recommended. Otherwise, play it loud

Go, watch, discuss

Zeek12

Like this choice!

Haven't seen it yet, but remember it got quite favourable reviews on release.

JJ Leigh is top class.

And I've always enjoyed Barkhad Abdi.

Looking forward to it.

zapitastas

I watched this on release but this is an excuse to give it another viewing. Good film selection to start the film club

Watched this on a flight from China a few days ago. Was very impressed at how skillfully it was directed. The color of it reminded me of an old favorite Judgement Night.
I like the opening scene a lot, it more then perfectly sets your relationship up with the two protagonists for the rest of the film.

Trying to decide if Pattison is a good buy or a bad guy is a nice running theme - he could save his brother from getting arrested if he hadn't run off, but then uses the stolen money and does his best to fix everything there after redeeming himself. The poor lad drinking the acid tab liquid is seriously funny when he wakes up

Uncharted

Looking forward to this. Thanks for puttting time and effort into setting this whole thing up. It's really appreciated.

homerun_homer

Really liked this film when I watched recently. I'll see if I can squeeze in a rewatch, if not then I was given a free copy of the vinyl soundtrack so will stick that on if nothing else.

beertons

This is a great idea.

meep

Should spoliers be necessary? A pain on devices and surely peeps participating here will have seen the movie, that being the point?

johnny_ultimate

A few initial observations and questions to help kick things off (you don't need to read these until you've watched it - probably better going in blind!):

How'd you find the use of sound? It's an unusually loud and aggressive use of noise and soundtrack... how do you think it helped the film establish it's tone, or did it not work for you?

Did it remind you of anything? I'm going to throw it out there and say that, despite its obvious influence from 1980s cinema, it reminded me most of a darker version of Curb Your Enthusiasm at times. I'll expand on that later :pac:

Any thoughts on the film's use of close-ups?

How'd you find the climax?

Personally I love the way a film that is typically shot in tight close-ups goes wide here. IMO it cleverly shows Connie's arrest from Ray's perspective, before shifting to Connie's perspective for Ray's arrest. It really works to amplify the sort of horror of the unfolding drama, but interestingly does so by showing it all at something of a remove - unusual choice given the film is so immediate for the rest of the running time.

The film

opens and closes on scenes of relative calm

... did that work for you, or would you have preferred a different approach given the generally nervy, tense nature of the rest of the film?

johnny_ultimate

meep wrote: »

Should spoliers be necessary? A pain on devices and surely peeps participating here will have seen the movie, that being the point?

We’ll definitely put a spoiler warning in shortly once a few more people have watched it, just want to give a day or two beforehand

TerrorFirmer

Be watching this tomorrow, great idea.

buried

Was my favourite film from last year and I watch the thing nearly every couple of weeks since released on blu-Rayz. I went into this blind when I first saw it. I prefer nowadays to go into see films not knowing anything about their story or seeing any trailers. This method does not always work, but when it does and I end up seeing pure Gold like this, it is a great experience.

The soundtrack to me is one of the best film soundtracks ever made but I'm a bit biased in that regard as I'm a big Oneohtrix Point Never fan. Lopatin's music has always had that motion picture soundtrack scope to all of the works he has done and his stuff is well worth checking out if you liked this. He has a new album out in two weeks, and I'm lucky enough to have gotten tickets to go see his MYRIAD show in July which is also heavily visually/imagery based live work. The track "Leaving The Park" is brilliant on this and much like the works he did on previous LP's "Rifts" and "Returnal" which are really really good.
The music and sound design goes so well with the layer upon layer of neon colours splashed throughout the entire jittery paced thing. I love the sound design usage of actual noise's from day to day things you would hear anywhere, and those noises turned up to 11 - television sets, radios, plastic cups, keys being pressed on a smartphone, wheelchair lifts that sound like JCB's.... I though that was brilliant and mildly nightmarish to go with the whole thing

The film reminds me of "Withnail & I" ...a lot. Sort of like an american cyberpunk version printed in an early 90's 2000AD colour comic strip. The need to escape the decaying city, the total disasters, the timeline done in actual day/night/day, the various random encounters, the encounters with characters in a worse state than the main two protagonists, the entertaining bleak environment, the absolute entitlement of Connie's character, just like Withnail - "Don't be confused, it's just gonna make it worse for me!"

The resolution at the end as one of the lads can finally get away from the terrible influence of the other...

Really reminded me of that other great film. Some great laughs in parts of this thing too,

you have the whole day flashback of Buddy Duress's character, brilliant timed delivery of his lines with the snappy editing of his release day from prison

"We took over this place like it was our f**kin office" - "As soon as he hears the word JAIL, he f**kin' freaks, talkin' about "I'm not getting ripped off by one of you punks again" and he just f**kin' steps on the gas. And that was it, and just takes off. Then I hear the word COPS, I lose it, like I gotta fack out of here." The first time I seen that whole quick fire segment of the film, along with the delivery of the lines in that strong accent, I completely lost it in a fit of laughter for a good five minutes non stop.

Its just a brilliantly made, well written, forward pushing piece of work that just portrays a basic story you can empathise with. I loved it, I can't wait to watch it again next month.

Sad Professor

Spoilers from this post onward.

This would make a good double bill with The Florida Project. Both are about the dregs of society, living precariously without a safety net, mostly left to their own devices until the crumpling institutions come blundering in to "rescue" the vulnerable person they are meant to be protecting.

The close-ups at the end felt suffocating. Especially after the huge wide shots of the previous scene. Interesting how those shots reduce Connie to a rat in a horizontal maze, reflecting his own belief that there is no going up but if you are smart enough maybe you can wiggle your way out of trouble (maybe he's right, but he's not nearly smart enough unfortunately). Where as Ray, who believes everyone is equal and that one day he will be driving a Lamborghini, plunges vertically to his death as if there was there was never any other way to go. And then we return to Nick, who seems much the same as he did at the beginning, except now we understand his anger. A part of me wanted some catharsis, maybe Nick would finally break. But nope. The film keeps playing over the credits, making you switch off on these miserable characters.

My favourite line: Connie while watching Cops on tv: “jesus christ, change the channel, i don’t want to see them justify this sh*t”. Ironically he spends most of the movie taking advantage of black people. Partially because it's Queens but mainly because as a lower class criminal his race is the only advantage he has.

Watched this last night. By and large enjoyed it.

A few meandering thought:

I loved the lighting throughout. Gave a real manic feel to Connie's increasingly desperate situation. I tried to fixate on one room at times to see if the lighting was changing from room to room or were the lights actually changing colour out of shot. I think the colours were changing as we got lost through various rooms. It reminded me of the opening scene in Irreversible but not quite as nauseating. The general structure of the film reminded me of Irreversible overall; how we followed Connie from place to place without much of a roadmap. Towards the end when Ray (I think) open the balcony, we that it was broad daylight at that stage which was quite a shock. Perhaps the impending arrival of the police is being represented by the stark, cold, reality of the bright light invading their manic, colourful bubble. You could go as far to say the first time they get tainted by colour is when the cash explodes in their faces. The colour ruined the money.

Mostly enjoyed the soundtrack. The 80's feel didn't always work for me. It was a huge feature of the movie. It reminded me of watching Dunkirk. In both films there is very little happening on screen at times but an overbearing soundtrack is dictating how you should feel. Connie is creeping through the hospital or driving in a cab with pumping 80's synth giving it far more weight than the visuals suggest. It truly makes it a feast of the senses although a bit jarring at times. The balance was off between music and voice; I found myself turning up and down the volume and wish I had subtitles.

The plot itself was somewhat lacking for me. It reminded me of American Honey. I think I prefer when I have an idea where a film is going. This is probably my personal preference rather than issues with the films themselves. Both this and American Honey are meandering and go for place to place on a whim. Is this what Connie's life is always like? Or is this a horrible episode? His personality would suggest that he is constantly manipulating everyone around him. I would have liked to know more about him. The scene where Ray explained his backstory was a bit a jarring. It didn't fit with the flow of the film up till then and it certainly didn't fit with Connie's character to sit and listen to a five minute soliloquy. Ray's character didn't make much sense to me. Why did he bother hanging around with Connie? Why did accept to share half the money with Connie? I guess he's just another brain dead criminal?

Connie was very entertaining. After the interactions with the child and her grandmother, you could truly see what a con artist he is. From then on, every situation he got himself into, I couldn't wait to see how he'd get himself out of it. Stealing the security guard's identity and drowning him in acid? Fcuking lol :pac:. Someone mentioned a dark Curb Your Enthusiasm. I can definitely see this. I want to put Connie in all sorts of situations now.

Sad Professor

The 70s/80s inspired aesthetics and ambiance felt right to me and seemed to capture the present moment. I mean, that's what culture is now: the past dialled up to the max and endlessly recycled, like the garish amusement park at the end of the film. It added to the feeling of emptiness and the sense that there's no future for these characters, or at least none that they can imagine. Like the rest of society, they are stuck in a loop.

johnny_ultimate

Deleted User wrote: »

aling the security guard's identity and drowning him in acid? Fcuking lol :pac:. Someone mentioned a dark Curb Your Enthusiasm. I can definitely see this. I want to put Connie in all sorts of situations now.

Yeah I feel in a way this is like an extended cringe comedy, albeit a dark one. It's relentlessly uncomfortable, just escalating the situations to all sorts of grim absurdities.

That's one of the reasons why I like both the approach to sound and visuals. The abrasive soundtrack really amplifies that level of discomfort. Especially in the opening title montage, the sound design manages to build this level of aggressive intensity that makes the audience twitch. Similarly, the dominance of close-ups gives the unfolding horror/farce a sense of discomforting intimacy, where you can't quite escape the situations as they spiral ludicrously out of control. And when we feel get the wide shots at the end, it's to really make the audience feel helpless as the ****ed up night reaches its suitably horrible culmination.

It's obviously a very different sort of thing to Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Office. It's not always purely comedic - although sequences like the acid trip definitely do fit the bill - and there's a darkness to it that gives it an edge (without being adolescent 'edgy'). Still, the feelings it conjures up are similar to me - that it manages to do so through the aesthetics as well as the situations themselves is impressive.

McGrath5

Enjoyed this, in fact I enjoyed it a lot.

I found the first 15 minutes a little bit jarring regarding the soundtrack, but settled into it afterwards.

I thought the security guard in the fairground got an awful raw deal, particularly when they drugged him up.

I watched this with the girlfriend, who got a little bit teared up at the ending.

Keep up the good work guys, great idea to breath a little bit of life into the forum.

p to the e

What a cracking little flick this was. Most scenes are drenched with neon and/or sombre lighting which cleverly complements the synth heavy soundtrack that John Carpenter would be proud of.

From doing some background research on the film I discovered that a lot of the participants in the film were non actors. For example Nick, Connie's brother, was one of the directors and the bail bondsman was, ....well...., a bail bondsman.

For me the most significant line in the film was at the end just before Nick is introduced to his new class. "He (Connie) is where he belongs and you're now where you belong". This basically sums up the turbulent relationship they have. There's love there but ultimately if they remain together then Connie will just lead Nick down a path that he won't survive as he doesn't know how to.

As an aside, several times whilst watching this I thought it reminded me of "After Hours" where several coincidences lead to mini adventures throughout one fast paced night. Then whilst watching the end credits (I was loving the Iggy Pop voice over tune so stayed watching) I noticed that Scorsese gets a mention in the "Thanks To" section and he directed "After Hours". Coincidence? Maybe.

Sad Professor

p to the e wrote: »

From doing some background research on the film I discovered that a lot of the participants in the film were non actors. For example Nick, Connie's brother, was one of the directors and the bail bondsman was, ....well...., a bail bondsman.

Apparently that scene was originally shot with Eric Roberts playing the bondsman. They then reshot it using a real bail bondsman.

For me the most significant line in the film was at the end just before Nick is introduced to his new class. "He (Connie) is where he belongs and you're now where you belong". This basically sums up the turbulent relationship they have. There's love there but ultimately if they remain together then Connie will just lead Nick down a path that he won't survive as he doesn't know how to.

I'm not sure the film is endorsing that message, but yeah, that's definitely what the institutions are saying in the film, which is very depressing.

Sad Professor

Going to the security guard's apartment was really dumb. Also, how does a security guard afford such a nice apartment?

buried

Dealing Drugs. The apartment was probably full of product. I doubt that beast of a dog was locked up in there for the aesthetics!

p to the e

Sad Professor wrote: »

Apparently that scene was originally shot with Eric Roberts playing the bondsman. They then reshot it using a real bail bondsman.


I'm not sure the film is endorsing that message, but yeah, that's definitely what the institutions are saying in the film, which is very depressing.

I was actually conflicted as to who was better to look after Nick. You can see that Connie genuinely loves his brother and tries to treat him "normal" but Nick seems to need genuine special care. Is that what he gets in the end? I don't think so but I imagine it's better than what would happen if he sticks with Connie. We saw how he got on in prison already and due to his lack of awareness of his surroundings he gets in some fisticuffs.

Sad Professor

buried wrote: »

Dealing Drugs. The apartment was probably full of product. I doubt that beast of a dog was locked up in there for the aesthetics!

The dog was a great touch actually. Of course, it's also possible he was working two or three jobs. Would you still think he was a drug dealer if the character had been white? In fact, if he was white would I even be asking how he could afford such an apartment? The cops almost definitely would have scrutinised Connie's story more if Connie was black and the guy on the ground was white.

buried

Sad Professor wrote: »

The dog was a great touch actually. Of course, it's also possible he was working two or three jobs. Would you still think he was a drug dealer if the character had been white? In fact, if he was white would I even be asking how he could afford such an apartment? The cops almost definitely would have scrutinised Connie's story more if Connie was black and the guy on the ground was white.

Oh yeah definitely, the second time I was watching it, it also struck me the swankiness of the place. Wouldn't matter if he was as green as the sprite acid bottle! I've added the security man/drug dealer scenario now anyways to my own view of the film, mostly because its very funny to now picture that at one point there are 3 criminal drug selling degenerates in this apartment going cracked over a bottle of Sprite Acid, when the apartment may be filled with other product and none of the 3 eegits decides to look about!

Sad Professor

p to the e wrote: »

I was actually conflicted as to who was better to look after Nick. You can see that Connie genuinely loves his brother and tries to treat him "normal" but Nick seems to need genuine special care. Is that what he gets in the end? I don't think so but I imagine it's better than what would happen if he sticks with Connie. We saw how he got on in prison already and due to his lack of awareness of his surroundings he gets in some fisticuffs.

Whatever else Connie was, he didn't treat Nick like he was a child. He was wrong that Nick didn't need care, but what he was getting at the end wasn't tailored to his needs. It was just a place to dump him - out of sight, out of mind of an uncaring society. As I noted earlier, the film never cuts to black. The credits roll over Nick until the very end, forcing the viewer to turn him off. To walk out on him like everyone else has. It seems to me that his socio-economic conditions were a bigger problem than his mental ones, but nobody in the film is interested in doing anything about that except his brother, albeit through crime.

buried wrote: »

Oh yeah definitely, the second time I was watching it, it also struck me the swankiness of the place. Wouldn't matter if he was as green as the sprite acid bottle! I've added the security man/drug dealer scenario now anyways to my own view of the film, mostly because its very funny to now picture that at one point there are 3 criminal drug selling degenerates in this apartment going cracked over a bottle of Sprite Acid, when the apartment may be filled with other product and none of the 3 eegits decides to look about!

It is striking how far they get given how stupid they are. While your interpretation of the security guard is valid, I feel like the intention was to contrast Connie's sense of entitled criminality with the working class black people who he exploits throughout the film. But if so, they went overboard with the apartment.

p to the e

Sad Professor wrote: »

Whatever else Connie was, he didn't treat Nick like he was a child. He was wrong that Nick didn't need care, but what he was getting at the end wasn't tailored to his needs. It was just a place to dump him - out of sight, out of mind of an uncaring society. As I noted earlier, the film never cuts to black. The credits roll over Nick until the very end, forcing the viewer to turn him off. To walk out on him like everyone else has. It seems to me that his socio-economic conditions were a bigger problem than his mental ones, but nobody in the film is interested in doing anything about that except his brother, albeit through crime.

Interesting. Maybe I thought of this as a safer place for him to be more to make myself comfortable with this decision which is just exactly how he was treated by the powers that be. "We have to do something with so we'll hide him away here but sure isn't it better than nothing"

Sad Professor

p to the e wrote: »

Interesting. Maybe I thought of this as a safer place for him to be more to make myself comfortable with this decision which is just exactly how he was treated by the powers that be. "We have to do something with so we'll hide him away here but sure isn't it better than nothing"

I think I was hoping for some catharsis at the end. The sense that Nick was either broken or would get better, that one way or another the journey was over. But the film denies you that, implying instead that Nick is simply back were he was at the start of the film. And that once Connie gets out of jail he'll come back for him and the cycle will start over.

kerplun k

Finally got a chance to watch tonight.

Fantastic choice lads.
Pattinson, whom I'm normally indifferent too is on fire in this.
I hate to mention the Twilight films on here, but I found it funny, because I couldn't help but make the comparison with his character and a vampire. He completely sucks the life out of everyone around him for his own survival. He's uses everyone around him and takes everything they have, and then tosses them aside when they have nothing left to offer.

First JJLs character, I was actually uncomfortable watching the bit where she tries to give him 10k, I was delighted when the payment was rejected, then the hospital worker, then the grandmother, then the poor kid, I winced a little at the poor living conditions that surround her, I actually felt equally as bad for her as I did the brother. Then the security guard, then Ray, the criminal who he accidentally broke out of hospital, at one point Ray tries to establish a connection but Connie shoots him straight down and arrogantly suggests he's better than him. And then finally Nick, when you look at it from distance, you think his love for Nick is his only redeeming quality, but upon closer inspection, he is just using him like everyone else, Nick is a guy that will give him unquestionable loyalty, love, and will do anything for him, and most of all he uses Nick to justify his $hitty behaviour. He uses Nick to mascaraed as a good guy, a caring brother, who'll do anything to keep him safe, but really, when it comes down to it, He's only out for himself, he's a psychopath with no empathy for anyone else but himself.

One poster commented that they couldn't decide if Connie was a good or bad guy, but to me it was as plain as day. He was a pure scumbag, worse than your average run of the mill criminal, because he had this unstoppable destructive nature about him and at no point in the movie was I rooting for him and was happy to see him get busted at the end. It reminded me a bit of Jake Gyllenhaals character in Nightcrawler.

I felt guilty laughing at some parts, especially the poor security guard, I'm not sure if the director intended to shoot it this way, but it was genuinely hilarious, first seeing him try his best to be a hero and stop the two intruders only to get beat up, drugged and have his identity stolen and finally see him being dragged away by the cops in a bizarrely confused state, the poor guy, and then the kicker was when Connie and Ray go to his unexpectedly nicely decorated bachelor pad, I actually burst out laughing when they walked in.

Great film. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

johnny_ultimate

Interesting observations on the ending. While I can easily see where where the interpretation that it’s a commentary on institutionalisation, there’s something about it that feels oddly peaceful to me. Something about the choice of music (melancholic, but also sedate compared to what we’ve experienced before) and Safdi’s acting feels like a glimmer of hope. After this urgent blitzkrieg of a film, we have a sequence of relative calm. As far as we know Nick isn’t going to be interrupted like he was at the start of the film... a sense enhanced by the camera lingering as long as it does after the credits roll. There is a chance - perhaps slim, but a chance nonetheless - that he’ll find some sort of peace away from his brother.

Maybe that’s a simplistic and primarily emotional response to the ending - certainly I like the idea of it being a subtle critique of the dangers of institutionalisation. But for me it represents a change of pace that signals a different direction for the characters, and one that’s encouraging after the marathon of disasters that have just befallen the two brothers. If the film is the bad trip, this is the comedown... and that’s more of a relief than a curse.

johnny_ultimate

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Interesting observations on the ending. While I can easily see where where the interpretation that it’s a commentary on institutionalisation, there’s something about it that feels oddly peaceful to me. Something about the choice of music (melancholic, but also sedate compared to what we’ve experienced before) and Safdi’s acting feels like a glimmer of hope. After this urgent blitzkrieg of a film, we have a sequence of relative calm. As far as we know Nick isn’t going to be interrupted like he was at the start of the film... a sense enhanced by the camera lingering as long as it does after the credits roll. There is a chance - perhaps slim, but a chance nonetheless - that he’ll find some sort of peace away from his brother.

Maybe that’s a simplistic and primarily emotional response to the ending - certainly I like the idea of it being a subtle critique of the dangers of institutionalisation. But for me it represents a change of pace that signals a different direction for the characters, and one that’s encouraging after the marathon of disasters that have just befallen the two brothers. If the film is the bad trip, this is the comedown... and that’s more of a relief than a curse.

I agree, Nick was finding peace at the end in my eyes or at least a peaceful place. He needs love, and the only place he was getting that before was from his brother. He's going to find it in another place now that is not destructive for him. Its not like it was the cuckoo's nest or anything which may be a stigma to thinking this was a bad ending for him.

buried

The frequent usage of the mobile/smartphone was another interesting aspect up in this film. You don't really notice it right away, obviously due to the frequent usage of these things we use in our own daily lives anyways, but the phone plays a huge part in how the whole thing plays out, right from the start.
Connie calling the driver from the bank, Corey in the cab flicking through the holiday resorts in the cab on the way to the bail bonds place, Corey roaring at her mother cutting off her credit card, Crystal being berated by her Grandmother for constantly being on her phone and never looking at her when she is speaking, Crystal then just giving her phone to Connie who then uses it to find the theme park and then the apartment, Ray using it calling his dealer buddies, calling his house to see whats going on. Even at the end Ray is calling yer man to tell him where the acid bottle is. The mobile smartphone is used a lot up in this, The mobile phone is almost a character itself in this thing, I would go as far to say that in this film it's really shown as a accomplice tool for the dodge-ball criminally minded person and a total useless zone out toy for the naive, gullible person.

Sad Professor

buried wrote: »

The frequent usage of the mobile/smartphone was another interesting aspect up in this film. You don't really notice it right away, obviously due to the frequent usage of these things we use in our own daily lives anyways, but the phone plays a huge part in how the whole thing plays out, right from the start.
Connie calling the driver from the bank, Corey in the cab flicking through the holiday resorts in the cab on the way to the bail bonds place, Corey roaring at her mother cutting off her credit card, Crystal being berated by her Grandmother for constantly being on her phone and never looking at her when she is speaking, Crystal then just giving her phone to Connie who then uses it to find the theme park and then the apartment, Ray using it calling his dealer buddies, calling his house to see whats going on. Even at the end Ray is calling yer man to tell him where the acid bottle is. The mobile smartphone is used a lot up in this, The mobile phone is almost a character itself in this thing, I would go as far to say that in this film it's really shown as a accomplice tool for the dodge-ball criminally minded person and a total useless zone out toy for the naive, gullible person.

Yeah, a lot of Connie's power seems to come via his control of media devices. Mobile phones, as you said, but also televisions. The grandmother tells Connie that the remote control on the tv doesn't work. Later, while he's watching tv with Crystal, Connie tells her to get up and change the channel, literally using her in place of the broken remote. Then he kisses Crystal, obscuring her vision of the tv so she doesn't see his face on the news report. Then in the security guard's apartment, we see him sit down and point two remote controls at the tv.

Tv and phone screens are the source of a lot of the light in the film as well.

Smegging hell

Really liked it, agree that there are a lot of parallels with the Florida Project.