Just perfect...

How sad is this?

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Ironically, it is literally a challenge to stay awake through this film. There are four things wrong with this movie, and all of them are named Ben Affleck.As lead actor, writer, director, producer, sorry but he has to take the blame for this snooze-fest.In all fairness, the music also sucks..More than anything, although the basic story is good the script is somewhat lackluster and fails to spark any passion, but also Ben Affleck is terribly out of his acting range in the lead role and never really conveys the essence of a person from the time period.Visually, the movie looks pretty great and the action sequences are very well done.This could have been another great crime movie with a different musical score and more appropriate lead actor and a little harsher editing.

This neo-noir is written by, directed by, produced by, concocted by, and stars Ben Affleck. Music by Ben Affleck, with a harmonium solo by Ben Affleck. With additional dialog by Ben Affleck.Therefore, a lot of whatever appeal this film should have depends on Ben Affleck. And how does it turn out? Not too bad actually.It's 1920s in Boston. Affleck is an Irish bootlegger hired by the Italian gang to go down to Tampa and establish the booze and casino business in the face of anti-Yankee sentiments from the local hoods and corrupt law enforcement officers. He succeeds, more or less, taking a bullet along the way, until some intractable head of the mob back in Boston thinks he should be replaced, leading to one of several shootouts.In Tampa (or whatever it's called here -- Yboro City or something) he encounters insults about his Northernness and religion from the Ku Klux Klan, whom he wipes out with a swipe of his hand, helped immeasurably by his aide de camp, Remo Gerone. How does he take out, say, the Grand Imperial Wizard and Majestic Necromancer? Simple. In the middle of a discussion, seated across the desk from the snarling Southerner, he yanks out a .45 and puts a bullet into the Great Wazier's forehead.The friction between Affleck and the Klan doesn't last long. The friction between Affleck and the Cuban girl Zoe Saldana lasts a lot longer, which is perfectly understandable. She's a paragon of pulchritude and probably, beyond that, Affleck may want to learn to speak Spanish. There's another woman in the plot. Two, really, but let's concentrate on the second, Elle Fanning, because her role is important if brief. She's appalling young and beautiful, with nothing more than an impudent bump where her nose should be, but her cornflower blue eyes are the eyes of kewpie doll. She's so cute that I was ready to dismiss her out of hand as an actress. But she has one extended scene with Affleck in a café that puts her in the same rank as the rest of the cast.And Affleck? He's muscular and big. He's soft spoken, like Clint Eastwood, and a man of few words. In fact, his features look grim and chiseled. If Lawrence Tierney knew how to act and had just walked out of a Gestalt therapy class, he might look like and behave like Affleck. He delivers the goods but the role itself -- romantic noir hero -- is a tight suit that doesn't allow him much in the way of displaying his acting chops. As a director he gets the job done.And that harmonium solo? Pure virtuosity.

The film is a biography of a fictional character, Joseph Coughlin, which means Ben Affleck is on the screen in nearly every scene. Joe is the son of a Boston policeman (Brendan Gleeson) but lives as a criminal or "outlaw" as he dryly narrates because he thinks we can't see what is happening on the screen. Boston is divided between the Italians and the Irish during prohibition. Joseph wants to abscond with the girlfriend (Sienna Miller) of Irish boss Albert White (Robert Glenister). His plan fails and he eventually finds himself in Tampa, securing rum and opening clubs for the Italians, making new alliances and enemies.The film is like two films in one. The first part is Joseph in Boston and the second part is Joe in Tampa. Ben Affleck played a cold unemotional line reader, perhaps by design, but not very entertaining. It was interesting to watch all the pieces of the puzzle of illegal rum distribution come into place, but they could have created characters that were not so cardboard. Zoe Saldana plays a Black Cuban. Elle Fanning has a small role toward the end.Guide: F-word. Sex. No nudity

In a theme that goes back at least to James Cagney in The Roaring 20s, Ben Affleck plays a disillusioned war veteran who having seen the promises of a just world and peace not coming to fruition has decided since he's learned the trade of killing decides to make use of it by becoming a criminal. It's hard for Affleck who produced, directed, and stars in Live By Night as he is the son of a police chief in Boston.He gets caught up in a turf war between rival gangsters Remo Girone and Robert Glenister after a narrow escape from death and a prison term goes to work for Girone who asks him to organize in Florida and he chooses Tampa as his base. Affleck has to deal with other gangsters, the Ku Klux Klan, and holy roller revivalists and in the end there's one big shootout with his crew and his former Boston associates.Three women have prominent roles here, Elle Fanning who was degraded in Hollywood and then becomes an Aimee Semple McPherson revivalist, Zoe Saldana daughter of a local Cuban rum importer who with Affleck breaks all kinds of racist taboos in Dixie Florida when she gets involved with him, and Sienna Miller who was originally involved with both Affleck and Glenister at the same time.The ambiance of both 20s Boston and 20s/30s Tampa is well done here. Affleck also gets good performances out of his entire ensemble and take note of Chris Cooper as a redneck sheriff and Fanning's father, Cooper's brother-in-law is Matthew Maher whose bigotry as both the local Klan Kleagle is frightening and repellent, Chris Messina as Affleck's right hand guy, and Max Casella as the mutt son of Girone who has it in for Affleck. What he lacks in brains he makes up for in bile.Director Affleck also got actor Affleck to give a great performance in the lead. Live By Night is an old fashioned gangster flick with some current themes.