#Live by night book summary movie
#Live by night book summary series

#Live by night book summary movie

On the plus side, the movie looks sleek, with evocative period production design by Jess Gonchor and elegant framing from cinematographer Robert Richardson, painting in a subdued monochromatic palette that heats up once the action travels south. This undercuts the pathos of the anticlimactic final act as well as the moral complexity of Lehane’s writing, cramping the epic scope of the novel, the middle book in a Coughlin trilogy. Joe’s righteous indignation in the face of institutionalized Southern bigotry gives the film some currency, but somehow, the central character remains remote and short on persuasive passion. Flavorless characterizations from Glenister and Girone as the rival Mob kingpins don’t help.Īffleck is not at his best here, looking uncomfortable in the boxy period suits, and coming off as somewhat lifeless for a man who sees himself as an outlaw, playing by his own rules and accountable only to his own codes of honor and compassion.

#Live by night book summary series

But while Affleck aims for the Coppola tradition of operatic bloodbaths, the execution falls short, unfolding with the same rote efficiency as an earlier Boston cops-and-robbers chase or Joe’s series of retaliatory strikes against the KKK. The slack plotting builds with more inevitability than momentum toward a clash in which Joe and Dion are caught between White and Pescatore, the latter now flanked by his dimwit son Digger (Max Casella).

Messina’s cheeky swagger makes Dion a more diverting character.ĭennis Lehane on New Novel 'World Gone By,' Ben Affleck and What He Misses About Boston Saldana plays her with a sad-eyed sultriness and a slinky wardrobe to match, but the role is purely decorative. Graciela also loses some depth compared to the novel, with her revolutionary political zeal reduced to founding a sanctuary for abandoned Cuban women and children.

While Cooper has some strong moments as a fiercely conflicted man, in some ways mirroring Thomas Coughlin, Fanning is given too little screen time to make her character’s transformation feel more than perfunctory, robbing a key scene of impact during which Loretta opens up to Joe. That makes local authorities nervous about Joe’s plan to set up Pescatore in the nascent casino business. She returns to town as an evangelical preacher who escaped damnation, dressing like a bride of Christ and whipping up a fuss in hellfire tent sermons against the demon rum and the ruin of gambling. In the movie’s most rushed section, Joe uses knowledge of Figgis‘ daughter Loretta ( Elle Fanning), who went to Hollywood to pursue movie stardom, as leverage to get to R.D. Pruitt (Matthew Maher), the brother-in-law of local sheriff Irving Figgis ( Chris Cooper). He falls in love with black Cuban immigrant Graciela Suarez (Zoe Saldana), which makes him a target of sneering Klansman R.D. Enlisting his loyal henchman Dion Bartolo ( Chris Messina), he relocates to Tampa, where he gains the strategic trust of the Cubans in Ybor City. Going against his oath never to work for a boss again, Joe signs on with Pescatore to wrestle for control of the Florida racket. Released from prison, Joe is determined to settle the score with White, who has moved to Miami to manage Florida’s rum-running syndicate. “What you put out into the world will always come back to you, but never how you predict,” he tells Joe, in words destined to haunt him. Likewise Gleeson, who hits commanding notes as an honest lawman repelled by his son’s chosen life and yet bound by a father’s love.

Miller, outfitted in fabulous flapper chic by costumer Jacqueline West, makes a lively impression as a woman accustomed to using her sexual power to mask feelings of class inferiority, and the movie leaves you wanting a lot more of her. But a botched bank-heist getaway and a double-cross land Joe in prison, believing that Emma has been iced. Knowing trouble when he sees it, Joe’s father, Police Deputy Superintendent Thomas Coughlin ( Gleeson), tries to steer his son away from the sassy Irish tart. Joe declines, but gets pulled into organized crime via his clandestine relationship with White’s mistress, Emma Gould (Miller). After 10 years running a robbery operation, he’s approached by Irish gangster Albert White (Robert Glenister) to help out in the Mob war against the Italians, headed by Maso Pescatore ( Remo Girone). Disillusioned by his experiences as a soldier in World War I, Coughlin returns to Boston an outlaw, vowing never to bow to authority again.