Chapter 327: Lucas Injured

"The narrative pacing is still too fast. Why can't he actually slow down and deeply explore the characters' inner emotions?"

In another theater in New York, Richard Chris, a film critic for the New York Times, watched the film cut to another storyline. It had spent only about five minutes depicting the grief of Catherine and her daughter.

He frowned. "The film should be slower..."

Unlike Richard Chris, the surrounding audience felt the film's pacing was a bit slow and not as thrilling as Duke's previous works. Although the emotional conflicts resonated with them, the pacing had undeniably dragged.

After all, this was not a purely commercial film. To build a three-thread narrative structure, every storyline inherently required proper setup.

Ultimately, a small production like Daylight attracted audiences for two reasons: Duke's personal box office appeal, and the most intense police shootout in American history taking place in front of the Bank of America.

Frankly, most viewers walked into the theater wanting to see a shootout, and Duke had already proven on screen that this was his specialty.

A movie couldn't be composed entirely of gunfights without triggering audience fatigue. Duke also needed this film to hone his skills, making certain narrative elements indispensable. Moreover, once a film touched on a character's inner emotions, the pacing would naturally slow down.

The film had already transitioned to the narrative of the two robbers, Larry and Emil. Emil, in particular, was the main focus.

It was a dream depicting Emil Matasareanu's childhood and teenage years. At an age when he was just beginning to understand the world, he suffered the pain of a broken family and was forced to live with his mother in a psychiatric hospital. For a minor, it was practically hell. Even more terrifying, he was later beaten by a patient suffering an episode, which caused him to develop epilepsy...

In mainstream Hollywood films, no one was born inherently evil. Emil hadn't reached this point today solely due to his own choices.

"He's somewhat pitiful."

Although she had grown up in wealth, Ivanka Trump wasn't some naive, sheltered heiress.

"There's a reason he fell to this state," she added.

But her rising sympathy was shattered by the cold reality of Emil's behavior after he jolted awake from the dream.

From an iron box containing handguns and bullets, Emil retrieved his epilepsy medication. He gradually calmed down after taking it, but once calm, he became even more cruel and terrifying. He urged Larry to rob another bank and began preparing for it.

Handguns, automatic rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and Double-Layer Kevlar body armor. They even had specially sewn pieces of Double-Layer Kevlar ready for their arms and legs.

The two men confidently swore to steal a million dollars. In their conversation, they mentioned that if the police arrived or if they met any other resistance, they would shoot them full of holes.

"It'll take time for SWAT to arrive," Emil said with absolute confidence. "In all robberies, the first to arrive are patrolmen and regular detectives. They don't have automatic weapons, only handguns and a few shotguns. Those weapons can't threaten us at all..."

To achieve their goal, the two began scouting for a suitable bank and armored truck.

"What is this?"

Seeing the film cut back to Officer Michael, Richard Chris furrowed his brow even tighter.

"Why not dig deeper into the criminals' inner worlds? Since he brought it up, he should keep exploring it instead of just scratching the surface!"

However, the film simply refused to unfold the way he wanted.

Officer Michael's relationship with his daughter seemed on the verge of shattering at any moment, but he couldn't afford to worry about that now. He was busy investigating every clue related to the robbery. Everything told him that those two inhumane thugs would strike again.

The inner worlds of the robbers that Richard Chris wanted to see were touched upon, but just as he thought, many elements were only glossed over. For instance, both men were bodybuilders, and the distance between their childhood environments and true happiness was roughly the distance from Britain to America.

But what dissatisfied Richard Chris was that every time the film explored the robbers' inner thoughts and pasts, it immediately followed up by showing their preparations for the next heist. It used cold, cruel reality to shatter whatever slight sympathy the audience had just mustered.

"This is just catering to mainstream audiences! Catering to the needs of the California State Government and the Los Angeles County Police Department!" Richard Chris fumed.

The film could have easily flipped the script, offering some justification for the two men in order to expose deep-seated American social issues.

"A director needs independent thought! They must have a spirit of dedication to art!" he muttered.

Clearly, Duke lacked this spirit. More accurately, the vast majority of directors, including Spielberg and James Cameron, lacked it. Aside from certain independent film directors who liked to preach to themselves, everyone else catered to the needs of mainstream society rather than confronting them.

If Duke had actually made the film according to Richard Chris's ideas, what would await him as an A-list director? It would inevitably be a unanimous bombardment from the mainstream media!

Moreover, the excellent relationship he had established with the Los Angeles County Police Department since Speed would be destroyed!

In this country, the law appeared incredibly fair, but everyone actually understood that whether it was the police or various other institutions, they were equally filled with dark secrets.

Using the film to clear the names of two long-condemned thugs, or to speak up for them? Or even just to elicit sympathy? Duke had never intended any of that.

Therefore, after detailing the robbers' pasts, he always used the reality of them plotting another shocking heist to remind the audience: they deserved what was coming to them!

"They should just be shot dead!"

Around Richard Chris, many audience members were discussing exactly this. The famous film critic's expression turned rather ugly.

No matter what he thought, he couldn't alter the progression of the film's plot.

At her husband's funeral, Catherine and her daughter Ruta once again saw Officer Michael. Facing this family that had grieved until they had no tears left, Michael could only offer a dry reassurance that he would catch the killers.

But Michael hadn't found the killers yet, and he faced another dilemma. Returning home, he discovered his daughter was actually snorting cocaine!

The conflict between father and daughter completely exploded. Due to his stubborn personality and his profession, he insisted on sending his daughter Lily to rehab. During their fierce argument, he received a call about a new lead, forcing him to temporarily leave home to focus on the case.

"Have you ever cared about me? You've never cared about me!"

Watching her father's retreating back, Lily's eyes were filled with disappointment.

"All you care about is work! I'm not your family. Your family is the LAPD!"

She sat on the sofa in agony. Even being sent to rehab by her father would have felt better than this.

Michael's partner had found a tiny clue. Based on it, Michael deduced that the robbers might strike a bank in North Hollywood. But this baseless analysis inevitably failed to gain his superior's support. North Hollywood was one of the busiest districts in Los Angeles, and no one could possibly lock down the area based on mere speculation.

However, the police chief decided to dispatch a surveillance helicopter to the area at dawn the next day.

On the other side, Larry and Emil had finalized their plan to rob the Bank of America armored truck the following day, coldly going about their preparations.

In their grief-filled home, Catherine planned to take her daughter to the Bank of America the next day to handle the financial matters her husband had left behind.

At dawn, Michael made a phone call home. After confirming Lily was still there, he and his partner drove into North Hollywood.

It was the last Friday of February. The North Hollywood district was as busy as ever. Before the Bank of America on Laurel Canyon Boulevard even opened, Catherine arrived in her car. Ruta, however, didn't want to go inside. Catherine gave her daughter a few instructions, left her in the car, and walked toward the bank herself.

Not far away, a white Chevrolet sedan slowly rolled to a stop on the main access road in front of the bank. Larry and Emil looked even bulkier than they had at the start of the film. In the backseat sat AK47s equipped with drum magazines. They were waiting for the armored truck to arrive.

On Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Michael, dressed in plainclothes, drove past the Bank of America with his partner but had to stop due to heavy traffic. They didn't notice anything unusual. After contacting the helicopter above, they learned that a nearby car accident had caused massive gridlock across North Hollywood.

At the Los Angeles County Police Department, a Black officer named James had just retrieved his weapons and gear, preparing to start a day of routine training with his SWAT team.

In a Los Angeles neighborhood, Lily slowly woke up after making do on the sofa for the night. She went to the bathroom for a quick wash and turned on the TV. The anchor on ABC Television was using an aerial shot from a helicopter to report on Los Angeles's terrible traffic conditions.

It was a very ordinary morning. Everything seemed mundane, and no one realized that a shocking crime that would stun all of America was about to occur.

Richard Chris checked his watch. The movie had only been playing for a little over fifty minutes. That director had actually reserved forty minutes just for the shootout! This was simply an unforgivable mistake!

The film should have spent more time delving into the characters' psychological shifts, not on a messy gunfight!

This was a film based on true events. Duke Rosenberg was completely wasting the subject matter!

He felt quite indignant, but the surrounding audience was full of anticipation. They knew the director's mastery over grand scenes and knew just how brutal this real-life shootout had been. They were eager to see what the gunfight on the silver screen would look like.

"The multi-thread narrative structure earlier was a bit draggy."

As they waited for the final climax to arrive, Jane Lauder said to Ivanka, "However, using the robbers' past and present experiences to showcase their cruelty and coldness was done quite well. The buildup scenes, at the very least, weren't boring. Although the pacing was a bit slow, it's far better than films like Heat, where the lengthy buildup puts people to sleep."