The fairly prototypical gangster flick template that Affleck implements makes the protagonist no different from his counterparts in other movies. All of them seem to share a common denominator: they flout the law and steer away from everyday routine, use their guns unmercifully, avoid religious affiliations, live according to their own rules, score any pretty woman they fancy and in the end, and predictably soar to become masters of their own worlds. The overly romanticized depiction of Affleck’s Joe Coughlin was what made the movie seem like a mere glossy fantasy instead of a crime-drama film. 

Developed from Dennis Lehane’s crime novel of the same name, Live by Night unravels the story of Joe Coughlin (Affleck), a World War I veteran based in Boston who ends up making it as a kingpin in the bootlegging trade during the Prohibition era. Joe starts off low-key as a bank robber, depicting his ill-fated affair with the Irish immigrant girlfriend of his mob boss, Emma (Sienna Miller). Even though Joe claims that the romance he has with his lady had a massive effect on his life, not enough depth and emotional connection is portrayed between them on screen. 

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Soon after, the scene shifts to Ybor City, Florida—a heavily corrupt yet alluring nook that runs without written law nor followed the norms of that period. This is where Joe abruptly takes over a rum-running business. Here, he encounters a number of stimulating episodes, consisting of an upheaval with the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan and a disagreement with a young woman who decides to become an evangelist after a life-changing incident (Elle Fanning). On top of that, Joe also happens to fall in love with a stunning Cuban lady (Zoe Saldana). 

Due to these messy sequence of events, Live by Night felt like a miniseries refined and condensed into a 139-minute movie. The lack of character development inflicted a bigger issue when even more characters and incidents were introduced in the middle of the film. To add to all this hustle and bustle, there was no time to reflect upon the intense scenes and plot twists that had taken place because all of them occurred in a tumultuous continuum. 

But, despite the many plot-holes, there remains a unique feature about the movie: it touched upon the topic of racism in a courteously straightforward manner through the scene that involved a rift that brewed between Joe and the hypocritical Ku Klux Klan. It was refreshing to see this social issue being acknowledged and weaved as a theme into this context.

All in all, Live by Night is a lot to digest in one go because of its indecisive plot. No doubt, it offers an impressive old-school Hollywood vibe along with laudable cinematography, costume, props and sets; but on the other hand it gets drab, digressive and pretty much overstuffed. (nik/kes)

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