Review of The Town

The Best of Boston (5 out of 5 Stars)
A Film Review by Matt Brigner

The Players: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite, Jon Hamm, Titus Welliver, Slaine, Chris Cooper

What’s Going On: Ben Affleck moves his directing focus to Charlestown, Massachusetts where good, honest citizens make a living robbing banks and security trucks. Charlestown is a proud society known for producing generations of thieves and antihero Doug McCray (Affleck) and his able gang of bank robber buddies are keeping the spirit of Charlestown alive. Things become complicated when Doug falls in love with his former hostage Claire (Rebecca Hall) and wishes to leave the life behind for a new life with her somewhere warmer than Massachusetts. Before Doug can have his redemption he must break the news to his trigger happy friend James (Jeremy Renner), evade the motivated FBI agent (Jon Hamm) while attempting to pull off one last job he was strong-armed into taking by a pushy crime boss (Pete Postlethwaite) who loves flowers. Ohh by the way, he has yet to tell Claire that he was the man behind the mask holding the gun that helped take her hostage.

Why You Should See This Movie: If you can look past the brief moments of social commentary and spotty acting by Blake Lively then you would be watching one of the coolest bank heist movies in recent memory. Affleck does a great job painting a tense picture which keeps your eyes on the screen and encourages you to fight the urge to use the restroom until the screen goes black. The pace of the film works well balancing expositional moments with white knuckle bank heists and car chases. The acting is top notch; each role was carefully cast and works to the degree it needs in order to be plausible. The story has a very pulpy quality and at its best moments provides a very palpable feel of suspense and dread.  

Oscar Contender: The interesting thing about a movie like this is how often it tends to fool us by showing us the action that will draw us in, but then revealing the kind of acting and story that keep us there. There are at least three performances in this film that deserve some Oscar consideration. Ben Affleck as Doug McCray sets the tempo of the film and delivers one of the best performances of his career; Chris Cooper only needs the screen for about three minutes to turn in one of his best performances, and Jeremy Renner puts on a show that might award him another Oscar nod a year after The Hurt Locker brought him so close.  

What Has Hollywood Taught Us About Boston: Being a lifelong Yankee fan I want to believe that Boston is a horrible place that should never be visited. I would be surprised if Boston is as bad as it is portrayed in films over the last 15 years. Keep in mind while watching your favorite movies set in Boston that the city is a lot more like Cheers than it is like The Departed, Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and Edge of Darkness.

What It Reminded Me Of: Heat (1995), The Departed (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Mystic River (2003), and Point Break (1991).