Good Time (2017)
[movie]
Two brothers: Nik—developmentally disabled and attending court-mandated therapy—and Connie—a screw-up who takes care of Nik the best he can. At some point, they rob a bank. Things go sideways, Nik lands in jail, and Connie is on the run, trying to get Nik out.
Their family is just their grandma. They have no “legit” jobs, no clear educational background, and their life is anything but sweet. The Safdie brothers crafted a stylish film about people scraping the bottom of society. Nearly every character we meet is struggling, poor, and operating in a moral gray zone—a morality with fifty shades of gray.
Connie is smart, but all his cunning and quick thinking are channeled into trickery, manipulation, and social engineering. You’re left wondering how someone so sharp ended up on the fringes instead of writing books, acting in plays, building bridges, or saving lives.
Nik is even more tragic—clearly attached to his brother but completely lost. His developmental disabilities leave him with the emotional maturity of a 5-year-old, and the world crushes him underfoot. When circumstances separate him from Connie, things only get worse. Or do they?
That’s the film’s core question, jutting out like a bloody, broken rib from its narrative tissue.
Everyone views the movie through their own lens. For me, I almost cried by how much I felt for Nik. He’s such a vivid example of a neurodivergent person dealt a terrible hand, raised without proper care, and left to grow into an outcast nobody wants. I’ve felt like that myself, though I’ve been far luckier than Nik in the movie.
In essence, all the brothers’ current struggles are because of Connie. But does that make him definitively bad? How else could he support himself and his disabled brother, given how society has cast them out? As the tension ratchets up with every passing minute, the deeper Connie sinks into chaos, the harder he fights to free Nik from prison.. In the end, Connie makes the ultimate sacrifice, choosing what’s best for Nik even though it’s the worst for himself.
Everything Connie does comes from love for his brother. The deeper he sinks, the less selfish he becomes, trading ego for pure sacrifice. It’s devastating and awe-inspiring in equal measure.
All of this is underscored by Daniel Lopatin’s music. Oh, that young mini-Vangelis! His Oscars aren’t far off, but even now, his soundtracks are earth-shattering. His music elevates this film, as it does Uncut Gems and Panos Cosmatos’s work. After watching, I spent two days listening to the score in my car—I couldn’t stop.
The film was fascinating to watch but incredibly difficult to write about—it hit far more personally than I realized at the time. Glad I managed to share it.
Jan 18, 2025
Some characters in the film, left to right:
Ray – A sketchy guy out on parole. The actor, in real life, was a genuine criminal (a thief). In the movie, Ray’s all about drugs, and tragically, the actor died of an overdose in 2023. The line between reality and fiction is blurred here in a very Lynchian way.
Connie – Played by the one and only Robert Pattinson. His performance is godlike—nothing more to add.
Nik – Played by one of the directing duo, Benny Safdie. Honestly, I think he outperformed even Pattinson. Oh, and he edited the film too.