by: Jay Carlson – Editor-in-Chief

I take issue with so many things about Patriots Day that I’m not sure where to begin.

I suppose it starts with Mark “It wouldn’t have gone down that way if I was on my 9/11 flight” Wahlberg starring in a film that only an authentic Boston guy could top line and get away without it being called a cash grab. Make no mistake though, it is a cash grab. Add to it, Peter “I only make films that are based on a true story these days” Berg and we have a real recipe for an actual tragedy told in the shallowest way possible, full of heroic low angle Marky Mark shots and filled to the brim with scenes designed to try and pull the tears out of your eyes. It’s despicable that they approached a community that was still healing after the trauma of a gunfight in their quiet neighborhood to ask if they could recreate the same gunfight to lend “authenticity” to their film.  Patriots Day may have been shot in Boston with a lead actor from Boston, but it feels as authentic as all the Boston-area people sporting their Boston Strong gear in the wake of the tragedy because it was fashionable. This film does not feel like it’s been made for the right reasons in any way.

Me? I’ll be waiting for David Gordon Green’s Stronger, an important story to come out of the Boston Marathon Bombing tragedy that has all the ingredients for an inspirational and moving film.

An account of the Boston Marathon bombing, PATRIOTS DAY is the powerful story of a community’s courage in the face of adversity. 

In the aftermath of an unspeakable attack, Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) joins courageous survivors, first responders and investigators in a race against the clock to hunt down the bombers before they strike again. Weaving together the stories of Special Agent Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon), Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese (J.K. Simmons) and nurse Carol Saunders (Michelle Monaghan) this visceral and unflinching chronicle captures the suspense of one of the most sophisticated manhunts in law enforcement history and celebrates the strength of the people of Boston.