The Town (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
The opening caption of 'The Town' (directed & co-written by Ben Affleck) tells us that Charlestown (a blue-collar suburb in Boston) is a place where bank robbery is passed from fathers to sons -- robbery, carjackings, & kidnappings. Doug MacRay (Affleck, again) is the brains & leader of a gang of bank robbers who've been able to get out Scott free after each heist. But Doug knows that his luck is running out, & he's looking for one last job that would afford him the chance to leave the 'town' for good. But no one is willing to let him flee, especially his combustible right-hand man (& best friend), Jem (Jeremy Renner); because he would view Doug's departure as a personal betrayal. In a recent job (which opens the film), Doug forced the bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), to open the safe, & then took her hostage as leverage for the getaway; eventually setting her free on a beach (where she couldn't see her captor's faces).
Doug knows that he should resist her & leave her be, but she only lives 4 blocks away, & after some casual hang-outs, finds that he's falling for her. But their eventual romance would soon take them down a dark, perilous path. See, the FBI is hot on Doug's trail (after the last bank robbery). Hard-nosed agent Adam Frawley (Mad Men's Jon Hamm) is hell bent to end the never-ending crime spree. He doesn't have enough evidence to make arrests/convictions. And he's hoping to catch Doug (& his team) in another operation. Doug has other baggage to contend with. Namely, Jem's sister, Krista (Blake Lively), a drunk druggy who has delusions of rekindling a relationship with him. And furthermore, local mob boss, Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite), relies on Doug to run the robberies. Can Doug elude Jem, the FBI, & Fergie when they all could use Claire as a pawn to keep him cemented in Charlestown?
'The Town' is a very sturdy meat-&-potatoes crime drama. If every week could offer a film as stellar as this, I would be a happy camper. The acting is a strong suit. Affleck's direction has flair - I prefer this film to his last, Gone Baby Gone ... and that was a decent film, too. My only problem with this movie is that the bank heists - while impressively shot - are too implausible. We're expected to sit back - without back story, preparation, or staging - and accept how clever & slick the robbers are, how they attain the costumes they do, know how to speed through streets with miraculous precision, & dodge hundreds of bullets while they take down targets with ease. You know, in a bad movie, implausibilities are part & parcel of its badness. I don't mind them. But in a good movie - which this one IS - the implausibilities stick out; marring the proceedings, a bit. And I didn't believe a plot point near the end involving an ice rink, either.
But I digress. As I said, 'The Town' is engaging, & held my interest from beginning to end. The movie captures the cold, grimy feel of Boston (a complex character in & of itself). Ben Affleck stages action scenes very well & imbues tension throughout (I was caught up in the chases). And I like how every character, good or bad, have shadings of good & bad within them. It makes you question the murky moralities & associations on display; who is right, who is wrong, & who to pull for. The performances are uniformly great. Affleck is solid & likeable as the disillusioned villain/anti-hero; however you want to define him. He has decent chemistry with Rebecca Hall's Claire. That said, their romance is far from iconic.
Hall is excellent as Claire, but the role is somewhat underwritten (she pops up here & there, basically because she's a love interest, & for no other reason). Blake Lively impresses as the slovenly drug/whore who leeches off of Doug. Chris Cooper has a very effective cameo as Doug's imprisoned father. And Jeremy Renner is absolutely dynamic as Jem, Doug's loyal-but-will-kill-you-if-you-cross-him buddy. You feel something just by watching him. None of the characters have much depth (unfortunately), but the actors make an impression, nevertheless -- quite the feat. So overall, as of September, this is one of the better films of the year. Whether or not it's deep enough, excellent enough, or skilled enough to make an impression for end of the year awards recognition is another story.
Doug knows that he should resist her & leave her be, but she only lives 4 blocks away, & after some casual hang-outs, finds that he's falling for her. But their eventual romance would soon take them down a dark, perilous path. See, the FBI is hot on Doug's trail (after the last bank robbery). Hard-nosed agent Adam Frawley (Mad Men's Jon Hamm) is hell bent to end the never-ending crime spree. He doesn't have enough evidence to make arrests/convictions. And he's hoping to catch Doug (& his team) in another operation. Doug has other baggage to contend with. Namely, Jem's sister, Krista (Blake Lively), a drunk druggy who has delusions of rekindling a relationship with him. And furthermore, local mob boss, Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite), relies on Doug to run the robberies. Can Doug elude Jem, the FBI, & Fergie when they all could use Claire as a pawn to keep him cemented in Charlestown?
'The Town' is a very sturdy meat-&-potatoes crime drama. If every week could offer a film as stellar as this, I would be a happy camper. The acting is a strong suit. Affleck's direction has flair - I prefer this film to his last, Gone Baby Gone ... and that was a decent film, too. My only problem with this movie is that the bank heists - while impressively shot - are too implausible. We're expected to sit back - without back story, preparation, or staging - and accept how clever & slick the robbers are, how they attain the costumes they do, know how to speed through streets with miraculous precision, & dodge hundreds of bullets while they take down targets with ease. You know, in a bad movie, implausibilities are part & parcel of its badness. I don't mind them. But in a good movie - which this one IS - the implausibilities stick out; marring the proceedings, a bit. And I didn't believe a plot point near the end involving an ice rink, either.
But I digress. As I said, 'The Town' is engaging, & held my interest from beginning to end. The movie captures the cold, grimy feel of Boston (a complex character in & of itself). Ben Affleck stages action scenes very well & imbues tension throughout (I was caught up in the chases). And I like how every character, good or bad, have shadings of good & bad within them. It makes you question the murky moralities & associations on display; who is right, who is wrong, & who to pull for. The performances are uniformly great. Affleck is solid & likeable as the disillusioned villain/anti-hero; however you want to define him. He has decent chemistry with Rebecca Hall's Claire. That said, their romance is far from iconic.
Hall is excellent as Claire, but the role is somewhat underwritten (she pops up here & there, basically because she's a love interest, & for no other reason). Blake Lively impresses as the slovenly drug/whore who leeches off of Doug. Chris Cooper has a very effective cameo as Doug's imprisoned father. And Jeremy Renner is absolutely dynamic as Jem, Doug's loyal-but-will-kill-you-if-you-cross-him buddy. You feel something just by watching him. None of the characters have much depth (unfortunately), but the actors make an impression, nevertheless -- quite the feat. So overall, as of September, this is one of the better films of the year. Whether or not it's deep enough, excellent enough, or skilled enough to make an impression for end of the year awards recognition is another story.