DVD review: Live By Night packs an incredible but vicious punch

DVD: Live By Night

Reviewed by: Gareth Drawbridge

Review made possible by: Times New Media

Despite not being everyone’s favourite Batman, Ben Affleck has definitely proved himself to be an accomplished film-maker with brilliant movies such as Argo (2012), The Town (2010) and Gone Baby Gone (2007).

In his latest directorial offering, Live By Night (based on the novel by Dennis Lehane), Affleck focuses his attention on gangsters during the prohibition era.

It’s the roaring ‘20s, an age of bootleg liquor, notorious speakeasies, underground distilleries, fearsome gangsters, corrupt cops and broads with questionable morals.

It is also an era when someone with ambition can rise to the top, provided they aren’t going to let anyone stand in their way.

Joe Coughlin is a low level hoodlum who refuses to work for anyone else, as he is determined to be his own boss.

Unfortunately, his plans of running his own outfit come to a grinding halt when it emerges he is having an affair with Emma, the mistress of notorious mob boss Albert White.

With the help of his policeman father, Coughlin manages to escape with his life, a short jail sentence and the painful knowledge that Emma has drowned.

Motivated by thoughts of vengeance, Coughlin emerges from prison and forms an alliance with White’s rival, the equally ruthless Maso Pescatore.

This partnership takes Coughlin down to Tampa, Florida, where he crosses paths with the Ku Klux Klan and establishes himself as a kingpin in running illegal rum.

Ultimately, Coughlin’s desire for success, power and revenge, all come at a price.

If you enjoy action-packed gangster films, it would be an unforgivable crime to miss this crime drama.