While Robert Pattinson started out more as a romantic teenage movie star, his filmography has become much more diverse thanks to the addition of movies likeThe Batman,The Lighthouse, andTenet. One movie in his catalog that stands out is 2017’sGood Time, directed by the Safdie brothers.
While the initial draft of the film started out as a comedy, the involvement of the Safdie brothers transformed it into a dark neon-tinged crime thriller, one that unfolds over a single wild night. Good Time follows the Nikas brothers after a $65,000 bank heist goes south leading to one of the brothers being arrested.Good Timemay be challenging to understand for first-time viewers due to the movie’s complexity, and there may be competing opinions on the nature of the movie’s ending.
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What Is Good Time About?
The Safdie Brothers’Good Timeis a gripping psychological thriller centering around the complex relationship between two brothers, Connie and Nick. The film’s prologue starts with Nick, played by Benny Safdie, also the co-director of the film, sitting in a therapy session and being confronted by the therapist due to his violent behavior with his Grandmother. Nick’s brother, Connie, enters the therapy session and forces Nick out.
The narrative unfolds with Connie and Nick embarkingon a bank heist, but their job goes south when a hidden dye pack within the cash bag explodes and marks the bills. This is followed by a police chase leading to Nick’s capture while Connie manages to escape.Good Timefollows Connie’s desperate attempt over a single night to find the money for Nick’s bail.
Connie reaches out to his girlfriend to borrow the cash needed for Nick’s bail, but her credit card gets canceled by her mother. Meanwhile, Connie finds out that Nick was hospitalizedafter a prison fight. Determined to reunite with his brother, Connie sneaks him out of the hospital, finding temporary refuge in a stranger’s house. Their cover is blown, and once more, they are under pursuit by the police.
Connie also realizes the person he stole from the hospital isn’t his brother Nick, but some other criminal called Ray, whose facial injuries were concealed by bandages. Connie is still persistent in saving his brother and looks for other ways to get the money needed for his bail. After being told how Ray got arrested and how he did LSD before his arrest, Connie and Nick both attempt to recover the stashed LSD and almost get trapped in doing so. Connie tries to sell the LSD but is confronted by Ray, who claims the acid to be his, resulting in a physical altercation between the two, after which they are reported to the police. This time, Connie is apprehended, while Ray’s escape attempt ends tragicallywith a fatal fallfrom a building.
In essence,Good Timemasterfully portrays Connie’s toxic and obsessive love for his brother, revealing the lengths he will go to rescue Nick.
What Happens At The Ending Of Good Time?
The film’s ending follows Connie being arrested and subsequently shows a scene where Nick is in another Therapy session with the same doctor. The doctor tells Nick that Connie did the right thing by confessing his crimes. Although Connie did nothing but look out for his brother, his methods were toxic and manipulative towards his brother, forcing him into a life where he didn’t belong. The separation between the two brothers proved good for them and gave them enough time to self-reflect on their decisions, with Nick now finally headed toward a good place, cooperating and getting better.
The ending ofGood Timecan beviewed from a dual perspective, as either good or bad. People who consider the movie’s conclusion sad may think it is because of the distancing between the two brothers. Some may even consider this a good ending and think that Connie never loved Nick but instead used him, and the only reason why he was looking to bail out Nick was so that he wouldn’t turn him in. Now, with their separation, Nick can finally become better.
The credits of the movie roll out with Nick in the therapy session and the song “The Pure and the Damned” playing, whose lyrics imply that both brothers acted out of love for each other, portraying Nick as the pure and Connie as the damned, which adds a satisfying, yet a bittersweet touch to the film’s ending.
The Safdie brother’s storytelling was beautifully translated into the movie medium with fantastic acting performances from the cast, a fantastic soundtrack, and the perfect encapsulation of the neon city. Yet, still,Robert Pattinson stole the spotlight, which played a pivotal role in him landing his role as Batman.
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Good Timeis now available to stream on Paramount +
