Ben Affleck returns to the silver screen to write, direct, star and anything else, in Live By Night. Boston, 1926. The ’20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out to make his mark on the world. Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city’s most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw. But life on the dark side carries a heavy price. Beyond money and power, even the threat of prison, one fate seems most likely for men like Joe: an early death. Joe embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime that takes him from the flash of Jazz Age Boston to the sensual shimmer of Tampa’s Latin Quarter to the sizzling streets of Cuba. Live By Night is rated R for for strong violence, language throughout, and some sexuality/nudity.

After seeing the trailers for Live By Night, I was on the edge of my seat for a powder-keg of bullet-ridden mayhem for this period piece. Affleck has proven himself as a solid director, with The Town and Argo, so the man certainly knows what it takes to shoot powerfully gripping action. What surprised me however, is that film is not what you get here, instead opting for a dramatic offering of gangster life and prohibition during the roaring 20’s. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy Live By Night, but after sitting through it, I can confidently say that its misfires do make this Affleck’s least favorable film of his early work behind the camera. With much honesty, my interpretation is that Affleck has worn himself slightly too thin for this production, as one of his three responsibilities don’t quite reach as far as the other two. More on that later. Live By Night feels like the victim of a ruthless slaughter by a studio that was destined to make this into their kind of movie, while the writer had something completely different in mind. Evidence of that is made apparent during some jarringly noticeable plot holes throughout the movie that always miss their mark being that the audience isn’t involved in the topic at hand, resulting in some sloppy desperation for storytelling.

In that regards, what Affleck does charm at as a writer is being faithful to this time and era when the world was still changing post-war, and it does invite the audience on a rather insightful and original side to the gangster way of living. This is very much a story about business and the importance of making yourself something more than just another hitman who takes lives instead of gives them, and Affleck’s character in the movie prides himself on the latter with running a successful bootlegging business, as well as aspiring to be the first licensed gambling establishment in South Florida. The film’s two hour run time has some sluggish moments, but quickly picks up if you can wrap your interest around these characters who always feel more dangerous than they’re letting on. Live By Night thrives on the feel that this is very much a paradise where law enforcement doesn’t exist, and so much of what we see doesn’t have to be done under the table with a salesman like Affleck at the helm. I can say that for 2/3 of this movie, I was glued to the screen because it felt like it was constantly building for something bigger that was to take place right around the corner.

The final half hour does generously feed our need for bullets and blood to fly after being deprived for so much of the movie, but I feel like it was the wrong time and place for this to happen. So much unfurls towards the end of the movie, complete with characters making abrupt and unnatural motivation changes with no telegraphing. Surprising? Yes. Logical? Not quite. It feels like Affleck’s script starts to run out of gas when it realizes this moment that it has been building for has been tip-toed around, and because of it, a lot changes quickly with our characters and plots that make them shadows of who we once knew. The second ending of this movie was actually the better situational ending for me, and I wish more time was dedicated to that aspect and the heart punch that it delivered. All in all though, I can’t say that the story ever bored or delayed me from what it eventually gave. The ending is satisfying enough, even if some of its layers come quite literally out of nowhere, making us wonder what we missed along the way.

Affleck once again far exceeds expectations visually, with his strongest cinematic work of his early directing career. This is very much a success in terms of gorgeously luxurious backdrops, as well as wardrobe design that articulately conveys the very fashions and cultures of this era in time. The suits are thick, the dresses are flimsy, and the romantic backdrops are aplenty. For Affleck to accurately depict two different areas of the geographical map that couldn’t be any different in climate and civilization is an achievement to his artistic merit. Ben’s capabilities far exceeds his reach of experience behind the camera, and at this point there is no project that shouldn’t be greenlit with Batman himself sitting in the directors chair. My favorite style choices for his cinematic work were that of some beautifully detailed revolving shots early on in the movie, as well as the symbolic framing that he uses for Elle Fanning’s character during her sermon of lost followers to relate the feeling and aggravations with religion. Ben’s efforts and designs pushed Live By Night slightly further when it was being downgraded by some aspects of the production that were less than thrilling.

That brings me to the performances that were as a whole sadly underwhelming. Nobody is terrible in this movie, but with the exception of two supporting cast members, this movie never reached its emotionally climax with the underwriting that most of them endure. Zoe Saldana and Siena Miller are practically wasted as the two love interests for Affleck. This is clearly Ben’s movie, but their lack of involvement with our protagonist always makes their chemistry with him that much more difficult to read, and this script definitely could’ve used more of both. Affleck himself feels very reserved and almost busy to ever open up to us the audience on the more than one occasion he experiences conflict. Ben plays Joe a little too cool for too long, and it makes his lack of vulnerability at times underwhelming as a whole for his character. The only two that I thought made the most of their minimal screen time was that of Chris Cooper as the police chief of Tampa, and Elle Fanning as his troubled daughter who turns to God after some second act reveals that serve to work in Affleck’s favor. Fanning is very much again the same hypnotizing figure that she was in The Neon Demon last year, and a lot of that is because of her emotionless stare that constantly feels like it’s burning a hole in her prey. She feels threatening without conveying her menace, and they certainly don’t make many actresses like her. Cooper has always been one of the best hidden secrets to any film that he joins, but here we see the brutal unfolding of a once prosperous town figure who is changing for the worst with the times. Cooper’s interaction with Affleck made for some of the very best scenes of the movie, and it serves as a testament to Chris’s polished routine to feed off of any personality that he bounces off of. Cooper and Fanning are the very glow that keeps the movie lit, and their work definitely shouldn’t be underplayed here.

Live By Night balks at the action grouping that it received in a pulse-setting trailer that underplays its true value as a dramatic period piece. It proves that even the most beautiful places have dangerous consequences, and the climax of faith and sin are always destined to meet on a one-way track. Affleck dazzles behind the chair, producing illuminating beauty in some truly breathtaking backdrops and faithful approaches to style that overshadow some holes in plot and underwhelming performances. Merely a footnote in cinematic mob stories, but one that deserves a chance from fans of Ben.

6/10