This past Friday, I had the opportunity to watch the film, Patriots Day. The film was centered around the tragic events that took place in Boston. The movie itself is very powerful and moving and does a great job in capturing the horror of the bombing and the emotional toll it took on Boston and its citizens. However, one problem I had and many others had was the main character himself. One lone person didn’t lead to the capturing of the brothers and moreover, Mark Wahlberg’s character itself was made up. I think this was a bad move on the film’s part as it marginalizes the effort and heroics of the people who actually helped find the terrorists. Instead, the movie glorifies Mark Wahlberg and makes him out to be the hero of Boston.
When making a movie about a tragedy like this, I believe its very important to preserve characters and plot points. Directors are well entitled to impost their artistic license but by preserving such things, the story feels more authentic and true. In this case, glorifying Mark Wahlberg’s character does a disservice to the city of Boston.
All in all, I think the movie was very well made and barring some flaws, it was quite moving and something I would recommend to watch.
I agree with many of your sentiments. However, although Wahlberg’s character was made up, it was a composite character — one that represented the views of several different police officers during the actual events, and for that reason I still find value in its inclusion in the narrative.
I never really thought about his character in that sense with that negative aura. It is oftentimes easier to write a script centered around one person rather than multiple service men and women working towards one goal. It makes for optimal pacing, character development, and an overall better cinematic experience. I feel like his character was created for those reasons and not with any malicious intent, although I do think your points are valid, maybe more could have been done to honor the service men and women that helped.
I think you make a great point about the integrity of depicting real-world tragedies like this. It is unfortunate that the movie doesn’t glorify or preserve the true heroes. But at the same time I think it’s good to have movies like this so that people don’t lose sight of patriotism.