Cannes Compétition Prospectus – Good Time

Good Time

Joshua and Ben Safdie

United States

CRITICAL RESPONSE

“Good Time is a poignantly ironic title: it means the reduction of jail time for good behaviour. Any time spent outside prison is good time, although the law-breakers here do not quite appreciate this and seem to be living in a kind of jail ante-chamber. It is a sombre, downbeat movie whose initial thrills give way to sadness.” – Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian)

“The Safdie Brothers Joshua and Benny have choreographed a chaotic, non-stop stress-inducing dance in the streets of New York City once again, following their tantalizing and brutally affecting addiction drama Heaven Knows What. The qualities and dramatic signposts that defined their earlier film—a boundless sense of energy, wild unruliness, alarmingly extreme close-ups and characters constantly on the move in pursuit of salvation—are present in Good Time too, and they seem even more distressing than they have been before.” – Tomris Laffly (Film Journal)

“I’ve never appreciated Pattinson as an actor, not even for his acclaimed roles in The Lost City OF Z or Cosmopolis. But he’s on fire here with what’s easily a career-best performance. Alert, unselfconscious, physically and temperamentally loosened with a casually spot-on American accent, he’s 100% present as Connie, pulling off both the ghetto drama and the offbeat comedy with conviction.” – Zhuo-Ning Su (Awards Daily)

PRIZE POTENTIAL

Their first film in competition at Cannes, the Safdie brothers appear to be the surprise package with Good Time – or at least the cheers after the screening suggests they’ve made one of the bigger impacts. If the U.S indie film eventually gets swept up by some heavyweights for the main prizes during jury decision time, the fine screenplay will certainly be in contention. If I had to put money on this, then surely Robert Pattinson in career-best form would be a wise, popular choice for Best Actor.

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