Boston-set romantic thriller starring and directed by Ben Affleck. Based on the novel by Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan.
Doug (Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. A loner, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him until his gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage – bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name and where she lives. She lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming fellow named Doug, not realising that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorised her.
Ben Affleck’s second feature as a director is this crime-thriller-romance, in which a veteran crook re-evaluates life after falling for a female bank teller. Whilst frequently absorbing, however, The Town is best when focusing on robbing rather than knobbing.
The title refers to Charlestown, Boston (Affleck’s hometown). He plays the central character, a crim-with-a-conscience who leads his motley crew as they plunder banks and armoured vans while hidden under two-dollar-shop Halloween masks (a brilliant, creepy touch). These sequences recall the stylistic panache of The Dark Knight, even down to the percussive soundtrack. In fact, The Town is absorbing whenever the bad guys are up to no good. But whenever the film shifts gear into a romantic story of redemption – the music turns a bit Shawshank at times – it’s a bit of a yawn.
The ensemble cast is a mixed bag, ranging from the Oscar-baiting Jeremy Renner as a ticking bomb of a psycho, to the out-of-place performance of Mad Men’s John Hamm as an FBI agent. In between them, we have Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively playing against type as a trashy slapper, and then Frost/Nixon’s Rebecca Hall, who does her best with the thankless task of looking miserable (for more on this recent trend – see Carey Mulligan’s simpering in Wall Street 2).
And then there’s Affleck. For someone with such obvious directing chops, it’s something of a mystery as to why he decided to step in front of the camera. For all the effort to remain authentic to the straight-up spirit of Charlestown, his unavoidable Affleck-ness can’t be avoided. Is the one-time squeeze of J-Lo with perfect teeth believable as a down-on-his-luck hoodlum from Bahstan? Every time there was an emotional moment featuring his character, one can’t help but imagine Affleck saying “get a close up on me, and push in, and cut!”
For all that, however, The Town is a solid thriller and I would not underestimate Ben the helmer, whose devotion to his hometown and thoughtful approach offers more than your average Friday night fare.
By Andrew Hedley, Flicks.co.nz
A solid crime flick that benefits from brilliant performances, gritty violence and sharp dialogue. Renner and Affleck are particularly standouts. I would have like to have felt more of an emotional connection to the film and the film could have spent more time with some of the supporting characters.
A solid yet un-spectacular film. I was entertained throughout and really like the atmos Affleck is bringing with his direction, but I think this had the potential to be truly awesome - which it wasn't quite. More perhaps could have been made of Jon Hamm, or maybe I was just wishing for a hint of the Draper. The same could be said for Jeremy Renner - This guy is a star and needed more development in his role. All in all however its nice to see a film with some meat on it.
This a decent film about bank robbers in boston. Doug Macray played by Ben Affleck leads a gang of bank robbers along with Jeremy Renner. The performances here are solid from Ben Affleck and Renner.There are some good action scenes here and good character development. John Hamm also does some good work here. I would recommend this film it is entertaining.
I like a good heist movie. Heat features very high up my all-time-greatest-films list, and rightly or wrongly has become something of a benchmark for films of the genre. The bank robbery scene and ensuing escape across central city LA are superb, and Michael Mann oft-applauded for his accomplishment. As it happens, Ben Affleck's directorial follow-up to the terrific Gone Baby Gone (which set his brother Casey up as an extremely fine acting talent to watch) evokes plenty of Heat, as well as elements of Inside Man, and even Enemy of the State. Given Spike Lee and Tony Scott brought us the latter films, Affleck can consider himself in good company. Afflect casts himself as the protagonist, Doug MacRay, son of an imprisoned bank robber (a brief turn by Chris Cooper), who is carrying on the family business. Along with his best friend Jimmy (a hardened Jeremy Renner, plausibly sociopathic and alarmingly unpredictable) and a couple of other mates, they subscribe to the tradition that has rendered their native Charlestown the real-life bank robbery capital of America. With that kind of expectation, what other lifestyle choice is a guy to make? As in so many bad-guy movies, Doug meets a nice girl and wants out. One last job, then a flight to Florida and (presumably) a crime-free, guilt-free life sipping cocktails with little umbrellas. How often have we heard criminals talk wistfully of this very thing? Robert De Niro tried to hang up his SIG P220 in Heat, and again in The Score, and we know it usually ends in tears. Doug's girl in this instance is the bank manager of their first job, still suffering from PTSD when he "meets" her in the laundromat and persuades her to go out for a drink. This is where the film suffers a little in its unrealism - Doug's charisma must be potent off screen, because Rebecca Hall's Claire opens up to this stranger immediately, convenient since he initially just wants to know what she's told the police, but soon he's sharing deep, painful childhood memories with her and, uh oh, falling in love with her for real. (Again, echoes of Neil McCauley meeting the lonely Edie in Heat.) Add to this Doug's inability to simply say "I quit", and you have a genuinely frightening dilemma at the heart of the second act. The Town has strengths in many areas: cinematically and directorially it is a fine piece of work, with some exciting camera moves and uniformly good performances. Blake Lively (from TV's "Gossip Girl") does a good job of playing the skanky ho (if you'll forgive the parlance), which admittedly is probably an easier role to inject life into than staid bank manager, Claire. Jon Hamm, everybody's favourite Mad Man, plays the hunter FBI agent without a hint of parody, and Pete Postlethwaite brings the "Oirish" into Boston. One could criticise the slightly predictable plot and dialogue, but there are clever moments and the various heist scenes are gripping and well-executed. If only Doug and the boys had watched Heat as many times as I have, they might have avoided some fundamental errors - but mostly they did an excellent job. And despite the disclaimer at the end of the credits assuring the audience that Charlestown is actually full of decent, law-abiding citizens, the film still makes Boston my kind of town.
Not a particularly memorable flick, but it still keeps you well engrossed for its duration, helped by some loud Heat-inspired street gun battles. Ben Affleck doesn't bring the emotional depth to this movie that he did to the superb Gone Baby Gone, and it's made poorer for his inability to have you believe that he's a young down and dirty crim looking for redemption. He should have hired his younger brother again as the role would have suited him better.
Everything is here. It's an effective thriller, he (Affleck) works closely with actors, he has a feel for pacing. Yet I persist in finding chases and gun battles curiously boring.
While by no means faultless, The Town is a cut above the average crime drama.
The Town is that rare beast, a grown-up genre flick, chock-full of compelling character dynamics and a clutch of pitch-perfect performances.
Affleck gets the tribalism of Boston's traditionally Irish-American enclaves; it's a defining force in his character's lives. But for all their well-played grit, those characters resolutely remain types, and for all the well-choreographed action, the outcome doesn't matter nearly as much as it should.
A fast-paced, character-driven heist movie that combines robberies with romance and solidifies Affleck's reputation as an actor with a genuine gift for directing.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 14th Oct 2010.
Release date: October 14th 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
