Patriot’s Day

THIS thriller is based on the book, Boston Strong, by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge.

The film takes us into the events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and the subsequent terrorist manhunt. Actual news footage from the day is also used for authenticity.

Though many of the characters featured in the film are based on real-life people, the main focus is on a fictional character, Boston police sergeant Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg), who has a bum knee and a potty mouth.

The main story begins when two brothers – the dominant and volatile Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze) and whiny Dzhokhar (Alex Wolff) – set off several dirty bombs during the Boston marathon that not only kill several innocent bystanders but also maim many more for life.

Tommy, who is on duty at the finish line when the bombs go off, tries hard to hold on to his sanity as he goes through the carnage.

Police Commissioner Ed Davis (Goodman) hands over the case to Richard DesLauriers (Bacon), a special agent in the FBI’s Boston field office, when all evidence points to a terrorist attack, but both butt heads later on certain key decisions.

The pictures of the bombers are made public, and desperation forces the brothers to go on the run where they kill a cop, hijack a car driven by Dun Meng (Jimmy O. Yang), and eventually have the entire might of the police and FBI bear down upon them.

There are several good actors cast in the film, but they do not get as much focus as they deserve.

The director prefers to keep Tommy as the central character, who always seems to be in the thick of the action.

However, hats off to Yang who plays the scared captive, while Wolff and Melikidze do a good job as the fanatical brothers.

There are some cuts in the Malaysian release of this film but nothing that will really ruin the flow of the story.

Overall, it is a fast-paced movie with some scenes that will get you all teary, such as the sight of a ranger steadfastly standing watch over the body of a dead child that could not

be moved for hours as it is part of the crime scene.

Some of the real-life people portrayed in the film also appear at the end of the film to share their recollections of that terrible incident.