It’s been quite a roll for director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg; their first teaming, Lone Survivor in 2013 was excellent, while 2016 produced both Deepwater Horizon and now Patriots Day.  All are based on real events and people, and Patriots Day is their best work yet, combining a “big picture” and personal story approach to the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013.

Many people who will be impacted by the bombing are introduced early in the story, which provides a powerful sense of foreknowledge as the events play out on screen.  Connecting them all is fictional cop Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg) who, rather inexplicably, is present for most of the important moments.  Yet as serendipitous as his character’s presence is to the drama, he also serves as an emotional outlet; we cry as he does at home after the blasts, we hunt for the killers relentlessly, we are breathless when he finds the suspect hiding in the boat.  Using one character, albeit fictional, to focus on throughout the story is both sensible and effective.

Even though this story played over days on national television, much of it seems immediate and fresh.  I don’t recall there being such a dramatic battle in the suburban streets when the brothers were finally cornered.  And the details that fill the story are fascinating, from the interrogation of a suspect’s wife to the FBI’s recreation of the scene in a huge warehouse; from the arguments between officials about releasing photos of the suspects to the everyday routines of people about to have their lives changed forever.  Verisimilitude is also provided by using actual scenes of the event, surveillance camera footage and TV news from the time.

Movies like this and United 93 may be difficult for some to watch, and perhaps pointless to others, yet I think they serve an important function apart from thrilling and sobering entertainment.  They are studies of human behavior, depicting how people react as adversity sometimes bruises, sometimes overwhelms them.  This is endlessly fascinating, at least to me, not least because these tales almost always conclude that fighting for survival, battling evil and banding together are uplifting pursuits, no matter what the cost.  Boston persevered, and we were with that city in spirit as it suffered and healed.  That’s worth something; so is this film.  ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2.  4 February 2017.