Good Time (2017)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Connie Nikas	Robert Pattinson	½
Corey, Connie's girlfriend	Jennifer Jason Leigh
Nick Nikas	Ben Safdie
Dash, security guard	Barkhad Abdi
Ray	Buddy Duress
Crystal	Taliah Webster	½

Review

After a not quite successful bank robbery leading to the capture of his mentally handicapped brother (played by co-director Ben Safdie), Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson) finds himself on the run under increasingly more desperate circumstances, trying to retrieve his brother while at the same time raising the money which the robbery was supposed to have gotten them. Such is the premise for this remarkably intense drama in which every new despairing situation our protagonist finds himself in is positively palpable. Robert Pattinson gives a chameleon-like performance, arguably his best ever, as Connie, conveying the character's increasingly dire predicament with a quiet desperation.

The film is made by New York City based brothers Ben and Josh Safdie. I don't know if they were inspired by films such as Mean Streets and Dog Day Afternoon, but Good Time feels like a modern version of these films. The Safdie brothers' impressive work here is indicative of insiders looking out, as opposed to outsiders looking in. Still, the single most effective element here is the riveting atmospheric musical score by ambient/electronica musician Oneohtrix Point Never, which sounds like a 21st century cross between Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter. It sets and elevates the mood throughout a film which is worthy of all the accolades it can get.