After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, a man embarks on a twisted odyssey through the city’s underworld to get his brother out of jail. A film by, starring Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Buddy Duress, Peter Verby, Barkhad Abdi, and Taliah Webster.
GOOD TIME
Josh Safdie • Benny Safdie
(2017)
After a violent incident involving his grandmother, Nick Nikas (Benny Safdie) sits in a therapy session with psychiatrist Peter (Peter Verby). Nick struggles with clear cognitive and social difficulties as Peter probes him with questions to assess him, eventually trying to get him to open up about what really happened in the kitchen that day.
Suddenly, Nick’s brother Connie (Robert Pattinson) barges into Peter’s office, interrupting the session. When Connie sees Nick crying, he becomes frustrated and upset, threatening to make Peter cry too. He urges Nick to get up and leave, but Nick argues that they told him he had to do this. When Nick points out that Peter wrote things down on paper, Connie tells him to rip it up. Nick tears up Peter’s notes and leaves the office with Connie.
Later, Connie and Nick enter Popular Bank wearing yellow safety vests and rubber masks. At the counter, Connie slides a note demanding $65,000 to the bank teller (Evonne Walton). The teller calmly opens her drawer and places the cash into the bag Connie provided.
However, Connie checks the bag and realizes it contains far less than he demanded. The teller writes something on the back of the note and slides it back to him: “It’s all I have! Policy!” Undeterred, Connie scribbles a response threatening that they’re armed and demanding the rest. He pushes the bag back across the counter. The teller takes it and disappears into the back room. Moments later, she returns and hands the bag to Connie. Connie and Nick walk out of the bank without incident.
Connie and Nick dump their rubber masks and vests in a nearby alley before slipping through a door that exits onto the other side of the street. When their getaway car isn’t waiting, Connie grows frustrated. He calls the driver, who explains he’s circling the block. Once the car pulls up, Nick and Connie climb in, and Connie confirms they’re going to Port Authority as planned.
Just as Connie starts to relax, thinking they’ve pulled it off, a high-pitched whine comes from the bag. Suddenly, it pops and red dye explodes outward, filling the car with acrid smoke that burns their eyes and skin. The driver jerks the wheel and slams into a line of parked cars.
Connie jumps out of the car and rushes around to the other side to pull Nick out. He drags Nick across the street and into a Domino’s, heading straight for the restroom as the manager shouts that it’s for customers only. Connie slams the door shut and locks it, scrubbing desperately at the red dye staining his face.
Outside, the maganger pounds on the door, yelling for them to get out and threatening to call the cops. Connie quickly pushes up a ceiling tile and shoves the bag of cash into the space above. He then unlocks the door and leads Nick out.
As they’re walking down the street, a police car pulls up beside them. Connie notices and whispers to Nick to stay calm and let him do the talking. However, when the police officer tells them to take off their hoodies, Nick panics and bolts. Connie has no choice but to sprint after him as the police give chase. They tear through a mall trying to escape, but Nick gets distracted and slams into a glass door, injuring himself. The police arrest Nick while Connie manages to slip away. Later, Nick is sent to to Rikers Island.
Rikers Island is a jail complex located in New York City, situated on an island between the boroughs of the Bronx and Queens. Owned by New York City since 1884, it was developed as a major correctional facility and opened its first jail in 1932. The island has expanded over time through landfill projects to accommodate growing jail facilities. Rikers Island houses multiple city jails and is operated by the New York City Department of Correction. It is one of the largest penal colonies in the world, serving primarily as a detention center for people awaiting trial or serving short sentences. The complex has a long history marked by issues such as overcrowding, harsh conditions, violence, and officer brutality. Efforts to close Rikers or reform it have been ongoing due to its controversial reputation.
Connie returns to the restroom to retrieve the bag, then heads to meet Eric (Eric Paykert), hoping to use the money to post bail for Nick. Unfortunately, most of the cash is heavily stained with dye. Only $16,480 is usable. Eric insists that Connie needs to come up with another $10,000 before the judge will sign off on Nick’s release.
Unaware that Nick has been hospitalized following a violent incident in jail, Connie returns to Eric with his girlfriend Corey (Jennifer Jason Leigh), whom he’s persuaded to use her mother’s credit card for the remaining $10,000. He assures her she’ll be repaid the same day once Nick gets out. Connie pushes Eric to set things in motion, but Eric tells him it’s too late to contact the judge. Eric eventually agrees to make a call and discovers Nick has been moved to Elmhurst Hospital, though he can’t get any details.
When they try to process the payment, the card is declined. Corey’s mother had canceled it earlier after Connie stopped by, recognizing he’s a bad influence on her daughter. Connie asks Eric to give back what he’s already paid, promising he’ll return with the full amount, but Eric refuses. The money stays locked in his safe until Connie brings the other ten grand.
Written and directed by American filmmakers the Safdie Brothers, GOOD TIME is an incredible crime thriller following a small-time criminal trying to care for his developmentally disabled brother. When a robbery goes wrong and his brother is arrested, he must do everything he can to get him out before it’s too late, knowing his brother won’t survive in prison.
The narrative is a relentless adrenaline rush, shot with a distinctive and immersive style that captures the unexpected twists and turns the protagonist must navigate and improvise through as events unfold. Nothing goes according to plan, yet I find myself rooting for him from start to finish. Robert Pattinson gives a stellar performance.
While nearly everything in the film works brilliantly, I find the theme park night security guard’s upscale apartment unconvincing and somewhat unrealistic. Not only does he live in a large, well-decorated apartment, he also has a pit bull!
GOOD TIME premiered at Festival de Cannes on 25 May 2017 where it was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or in the main competition section. The film received a limited theatrical release in the United States on 11 August before expanding nationwide on 25 August.
