I couldn't help but be struck by two things while watching "The Town"; the first is that Ben Affleck is a much better director than he is an actor and that his heist drama had a sense of authenticity that was almost unnerving in it's details of life in Charles"town".
Opening with a bang, we are given front row seats to a bank heist in progress that is frightening in it's efficiency - that is until one of the gang members decides they need to take a hostage to ensure they make it out with the cash. The problem?? Ever hear the line "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" well, it's like that for Doug MacRay (Affleck) who finds himself falling for said hostage, Claire (played with understated grace by indie fave Rebecca Hall). The fallout from that meeting sets up the rest of the films events. After leaving Claire unharmed by a nearby beach, the robbers find out that the drivers license they took from her lists her address as 3 blocks from them and that's a problem. What if they run into her around town and she recognizes their voices? The solution becomes the real problem when Affleck's Doug takes it upon himself to "take care of it" by setting up a spontaneous meeting with her at a Laundromat and then ends up falling for her instead. The exchange that follows with her explaining her subsequent breakdown to the previous bank heist leads to unexpected laughs as we are privy to information she's not, her being innocent to Doug's involvement.
A movie about a bank heist isn't new by any stretch, but what feels new is the family legacy spin on the act of robbery as a business and the idea that in this small Boston neighborhood, it is literally passed down from father to son. The characters throughout are well drawn and well acted by the likes of Jeremy Renner as Dougs best friend and fellow robber. Renner provides the most tense scene of the movie when he "bumps" into Doug and Claire having lunch together. Just see if you aren't squirming waiting for her to notice a certain tattoo on said friend. Jon Hamm is unstoppable as the no nonese FBI agent intent on taken the crime ring down. Chris Cooper is also on hand playing Doug's convict father & painting a picture of what Dougs life could become. The cinematography is also first rate at the hands of Robert Elswit who gives us the feeling of truly being one of the group with a view inside their life of crime just to survive. Watch for Blake Lively from Gossip Girl in a taut performance as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who just wants Doug to love her - she is cast against type here and shines. I believed her performance which could have been cliched and vulgar but was instead insightful and subtle.
I was reminded in a way of "Good Will Hunting" oddly enough, because by the end of that movie, you so want Will to overcome his circumstances and become his potential leaving his former life. I wanted the same for Doug and you will too although his is fraught with obstacles and not much else.
Affleck has truly found his niche, his ability to show you Boston through his lens is a powerful gift. I felt the pressure of his circumstance and absorbed the despair he portrayed, he should do for Boston what Woody Allen has done for New York.
Opening with a bang, we are given front row seats to a bank heist in progress that is frightening in it's efficiency - that is until one of the gang members decides they need to take a hostage to ensure they make it out with the cash. The problem?? Ever hear the line "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" well, it's like that for Doug MacRay (Affleck) who finds himself falling for said hostage, Claire (played with understated grace by indie fave Rebecca Hall). The fallout from that meeting sets up the rest of the films events. After leaving Claire unharmed by a nearby beach, the robbers find out that the drivers license they took from her lists her address as 3 blocks from them and that's a problem. What if they run into her around town and she recognizes their voices? The solution becomes the real problem when Affleck's Doug takes it upon himself to "take care of it" by setting up a spontaneous meeting with her at a Laundromat and then ends up falling for her instead. The exchange that follows with her explaining her subsequent breakdown to the previous bank heist leads to unexpected laughs as we are privy to information she's not, her being innocent to Doug's involvement.
A movie about a bank heist isn't new by any stretch, but what feels new is the family legacy spin on the act of robbery as a business and the idea that in this small Boston neighborhood, it is literally passed down from father to son. The characters throughout are well drawn and well acted by the likes of Jeremy Renner as Dougs best friend and fellow robber. Renner provides the most tense scene of the movie when he "bumps" into Doug and Claire having lunch together. Just see if you aren't squirming waiting for her to notice a certain tattoo on said friend. Jon Hamm is unstoppable as the no nonese FBI agent intent on taken the crime ring down. Chris Cooper is also on hand playing Doug's convict father & painting a picture of what Dougs life could become. The cinematography is also first rate at the hands of Robert Elswit who gives us the feeling of truly being one of the group with a view inside their life of crime just to survive. Watch for Blake Lively from Gossip Girl in a taut performance as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who just wants Doug to love her - she is cast against type here and shines. I believed her performance which could have been cliched and vulgar but was instead insightful and subtle.
I was reminded in a way of "Good Will Hunting" oddly enough, because by the end of that movie, you so want Will to overcome his circumstances and become his potential leaving his former life. I wanted the same for Doug and you will too although his is fraught with obstacles and not much else.
Affleck has truly found his niche, his ability to show you Boston through his lens is a powerful gift. I felt the pressure of his circumstance and absorbed the despair he portrayed, he should do for Boston what Woody Allen has done for New York.
5 out of 5
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