Good Time

2017 is becoming one of those years for film, alongside 1939, 1962, and 1999. A few blocks past Mean Streets and around the corner from Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid is this gritty, synth-scored, doomed journey to nowhere that peals through dark alleys and over barbed wire into fairgrounds where hidden Sprite bottles full of LSD hinder Connie (Robert Pattinson) in his attempt to secure the release of his not-too-bright brother Nick (Benny Safdie, who co-directed with brother Josh) after a botched bank robbery. It becomes a race against odds to not just post bail but keep from being apprehended himself, especially in nerve-racked company with his skittish enabler Corey (Jennifer Jason Leigh) coiled too tight for her own skin. Once Connie finds out that his brother has been hospitalized, his decision to break him out leads to a deplorable situation that recalls both After Hours and Quick Change! Filmed in the part of town nobody sees because their feet are glued to the pedal just hoping to pass it by, you are not likely to see another film this year with an opening 20 minutes like this one.

[R]