Checked out the already checking out indie flick Good Time (it’s down to one showtime a day in its second week). Didn’t know anything about it going in other than it stars Robert Pattinson who I am neither for nor against but I do know he’s making a lot of indie films now that the Twilight series has set him free.
Good Time is a weird drama or possibly a dark comedy about a dim small-time crook and his mentally slow brother who rob a bank, the brother gets nabbed, and Pattinson has to figure out how to break him out of the hospital where he landed after getting beaten up in jail. The events that follow take place over a single unfortunate night and is full of weird events, strange pacing, a Sprite bottle full of LSD, and a gritty and neon-soaked New York that seems straight out of the 70s, complete with a propulsive electronic score.
What surprised me in this film is how darkly funny it is without seemingly trying. I guess you could say it’s dead-pan. Sometimes something grimly funny would happen but neither the movie or characters notice how absurd things are getting. And this is pretty great writing and shows a respect for the audience that you don’t usually get from movies. I really chuckled a lot in this film as its various crazy schemes and weird plot developments rolled along.
There’s not a lot to admire about Pattison’s character (he’s loyal to his brother but that’s about it) but his performance is fantastic. Pattinson gets completely lost in his performance – he neither looks like himself nor acts like himself. Small, gritty indie flicks are working for him.
At the same time, however, sometimes it slows down just a bit too much or spends too long on harrowing scenes like getting someone in a wheelchair loaded on (and then off) a bus. If it had maintained its propulsive energy throughout or at least not slowed down for quite so long, it’d be a stellar movie.
But, that said, the film still works.
Score: 82