Another movie from the Peter Berg/Mark Wahlberg duo and another one that I liked a lot. This is also based on a true tragic event but unlike the Deepwater Horizon disaster, I knew a lot more about this one and the movie still surprised me with the attention to detail even with all the chaotic events happening all around. Both movies do have a similar formula which is not a surprise based on the team involved but it works.The movie tells the story about the people of Boston, the first responders, the police officers, and everyone who was affected in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 and does so in a touching way with the help of some excellent performances by Mark Wahlberg and all the other actors. Although Mark's character was fictional, it didn't feel like it was added to the movie to take center stage but as an amalgamation of Boston city in general which I appreciated a lot. Maybe I will end up liking this one more than Deepwater just because of the fact that it felt a little more personal and intimate.
What I noticed the most at the beginning and almost throughout was the music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross which projected hope and love on the screen and made it the center point of the film depicting the resilience of people to rise above adversity. There were some moments in the movie where it bordered on becoming a thriller film not because that the events weren't true but because of how they were executed. The ones I remember were with the incidents involving the Chinese student and introduction of FBI into the case. I also liked how the movie integrated the real CCTV footage into the movie seamlessly.
I think this is a must watch even though I don't think it would win a lot of awards at this year's Academy Awards.