Overview
Live by Night is a 2016 American crime drama film written, directed, produced by and starring Ben Affleck. Based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, the film follows an ambitious Ybor City bootlegger (Affleck) who becomes a notorious gangster. The film also stars Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Messina, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldaña, and Chris Cooper.
Produced by Warner Bros., the film premiered in New York City on December 13, 2016. It began a limited release in the United States on December 25, 2016, before going wide on January 13, 2017. It received mixed reviews and was a box-office bomb, grossing $22 million against its net budget of $65 million. The film lost around $75 million, according to insiders and rival studio executives.
Plot
In 1926, Joe Coughlin, an Irish-American World War I veteran and the prodigal son of Boston police captain Thomas Coughlin, falls in love with Emma Gould, the mistress of notorious gangster Albert White, the boss of the Irish Gang of Boston who Joe and his friends have been targeting in a series of robberies. Thomas objects to the relationship and advises Joe against his criminal activities, warning him that his wrongdoing will catch up with him eventually.
White's rival, Italian Mafia boss Maso Pescatore, finds out about their affair and blackmails Joe to kill White. Joe refuses, and instead he and Emma decide to flee to California. To fund the trip, Joe commits a bank heist with his partner Dion Bartolo and another man, during which three police officers are killed in an ensuing chase. When Joe goes to meet Emma, he discovers that she betrayed him to White. Joe is brutally beaten by White's men and nearly killed before Thomas and the police arrive and arrest Joe for the policemen's murders.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).