Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Good Time Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 21, 2017

If Cliff Robertson is remembered at all these days, it’s probably for two radically different portrayals, one as future president John F. Kennedy in PT 109, and as Charly, the titular character who transforms from a badly "retarded" (as it was termed then) man to a genius (and back again) in the unexpected 1968 hit that brought Robertson what was at the time a fairly controversial Academy Award for Best Actor. Wagging tongues back in the day lamented the fact that Robertson had won the statuette due more to savvy (and relentless) marketing efforts rather than for any inherent quality of his acting, but even given that perhaps debatable assertion, there’s little doubt that portraying a character with some sort of mental (or frankly physical) affliction can often be a “golden ticket” to at least a nomination in awards season, as everyone from Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda) to Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) to Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) can attest. There’s also a bit of a danger in playing someone with some sort of handicap, and some may argue that Benny Safdie lurches right up to a potentially objectionable line in his portrayal of mentally challenged Nick Nikas, the younger brother of Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson), ostensibly the focal character of Good Time, even if most of the most touching emotional content of the film is resolutely focused on Nick. Safdie, who also co-directed the film with his brother Josh (who himself co-wrote the film with Ronald Bronstein) offers an arresting if arguably too self conscious performance as Nick, a seemingly sweet kid who is evidently prone to outbursts of anger, at least as evidenced by the riveting opening scene of the film, where Nick is apparently being interviewed by some kind of therapist (the film just kind of launches into its tale in medias res, something that’s perhaps further exaggerated by a patently bizarre and perhaps even distracting intermittent placement of opening credits that by my reckoning lasts around twenty minutes).

There’s a distinct seventies vibe to Good Time, with a relentless pace and gritty ambience that tends to almost delight on pulling the scab off of the already scuzzy underbelly of morally duplicitous characters. Nick seems to have had some kind of altercation with his grandmother, something that comes out almost discursively, perhaps by design, in a series of seemingly unrelated questions the therapist lobs at the obviously troubled young man. But then Connie just bursts into the room, deriding the therapist for having made his brother cry, and from that point on, the film dives into a lunatic ambience that is fueled by Pattinson’s fierce performance as a character with a lot of baggage.

Connie seems to be Nick’s protector (at least Connie himself keeps insisting he is), but Good Time repeatedly documents how ephemeral Connie’s “support” can be, even if Connie could arguably be characterized as trying his best. The underlying plot mechanics of Good Time deal with the aftermath of a bank robbery planned by Connie, to which he brings Nick (in an obviously questionable show of sibling “nurturing”) as his ostensible acolyte. Of course, things do not go as planned, with the upshot being Nick is taken into custody, in one of the few perhaps predictable developments that the film’s often surprising screenplay offers.

That sets Connie on a laudable if ultimately regrettable quest to get his developmentally disabled brother out of prison, though Connie’s fear that Nick isn’t equipped to handle the environment in stir proves to be well founded when the kid gets badly beaten up. That leads to what might almost be thought of as a comedy of errors, though in Good Time’s presentational style, it’s all kind of gut wrenchingly overpowering, with Connie making a series of bad decisions that make his scheme to rob a bank with Nick in tow seem like higher wisdom.

There’s a near gonzo succession of events that ensues, including at least one potentially disastrous mistake by Connie, and it’s easy to see why Good Time has raised the hackles of some critics and audience members, since it has Connie repeatedly act reprehensibly, behaviors which include sexual abuse of a minor, as well as a tendency to take advantage in any way possible of those less fortunate than even he is, something that gives some of the proceedings a racial edge. Tonally the film is a rather odd brew of "kitchen sink" realism with a completely psychedelic undertone (in one case more or less literally, since a hallucinogen enters the fray and one character is subjected unwillingly to the drug).

Good Time has undeniable power, even if some may object to certain plot mechanics or even some aspects of the characterizations, notably Safdie’s. It also has some really fine, if disturbing, work from Pattinson, as well as nicely modulated performances by Jennifer Jason Leigh as Connie's girlfriend and, memorably, Taliah Webster as a younger girl who falls under Connie's sway. That said, the film struck me as a bit too self conscious for its own good, something that to me is symbolized by the protracted opening credits sequence and then bookended by a kind of weird closing credits sequence that plays out over a supposedly final “button” for the character of Nick. It’s too artificial to do anything other than draw attention to itself, and an undeniably powerful story probably would have been better served without this kind of weird stylistic choice.

Good Time Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Good Time is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. While this was shot on good old fashioned 35mm (according to the IMDb), there are moments in this presentation that actually more resemble 16mm, with seemingly intentional fuzziness and a heavier than usual grain field (see screenshots 9, 13 and 15). There doesn't really seem to be any rhyme or reason as to these variances, other than that they crop up regularly throughout the presentation and add a kind of appropriately gritty texture to the swirling emotional undertow of the film, though there are some minor compression hurdles along the way. While detail levels are obviously constrained due to such approaches, the rest of the film actually has excellent detail and fine detail levels. There are some unusually graded sequences, including some kind of neat looking purple and red scenes (apart from the "red" scenes when an explosive charge in the stolen money detonates), and fine detail does take a slight hit in those moments, as it does in a number of other dimly lit environments. The Safdies tend to like a fairly active camera, and with that kind of handheld approach sharpness can be a challenge simply because the frame is so highly variable.

Good Time Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Good Time features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which presents the film's kind of interesting sound design with clarity. Despite a lot of urban material, there's a certain claustrophobic quality to the mix that offers (again) a kind of hallucinogenic aspect to ambient environmental noises. Outdoor material does nicely establish spatial distance in effects, but the overall feeling of this track is kind of closed in and interior sounding. The interesting score by Oneohtrix Point Never establishes some of the best, if at times relatively subtle, surround activity. Dialogue is rendered cleanly on this problem free track.

Good Time Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Directors Benny & Josh Safdie, Producer Sebastian Bear-McClard, Actor Robert Pattinson, Actress Taliah Webster, and Actor Buddy Duress


• The Pure and the Damned: Good Time (1080p; 18:12) has some good interviews with the Safdie brothers.


• "The Pure and the Damned" by Oneohtrix Point Never featuring Iggy Pop (1080p; 4:43) has imagery that may give younger impressionable children nightmares (yes, that's a joke - kind of).

Good Time Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm not sure I would actually give Good Time a hearty recommendation to a general filmgoing public simply because it's such an unusual entry from a number of standpoints, and I can easily see how it could chafe at a number of individual's sensibilities. That said, for those with a tolerance for perhaps questionable decisions in how to frame the tale of a mentally challenged adult, Good Time offers Pattinson an unusual role, one fans of the actor may well want to check out. While I had my own qualms about some of the story elements and characterizations, I personally found the film fascinating if maybe a bit too stylized for my own personal taste. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.