Gritty, depressing but oh so good!

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2019)

My admiration for Ben Affleck has gone way up after realizing this film is his directorial debut. Depressing in that it shows the seedy underbelly of life and the truly horrible flaws of human beings, it sucks you in with the excellent acting of the principle characters. When I first saw his brother Casey on the screen my reaction was probably the same as most viewers - this guy is way too young to play the character written for him and he's out of his depth. I was so wrong on both points. Casey Affleck is great in a very understated way as a man haunted by his morality in what is right and wrong and you see the struggle he goes through as the film develops towards its heartbreaking conclusion. Everyone played their parts well and any film with Morgan Freeman in it is worth a look as he is a fine actor. The only criticism I have about the film is the use of the 'f' word in almost every sentence. I guess a film about the underbelly of life in Boston would not be realistic without the 'f' word but it was 'overkill' to me and shows a lack of originality. However, the script is amazing and the story is well told as it unfolds to its conclusion. I found the ending scene so profound and powerful in its predictability and ordinariness that it's impact was like a punch to the gut. Without giving anything away, the ending scene shows that life goes on, one way or another!