The Town
Screen Rant ’s Kofi Outlaw ReviewsThe Town
In 2007 , Ben Affleck ’s lineament - duration directorial debutGone Baby Gonehit theaters , demonstrate something that few of us had ever presume to imagine : that Ben Affleck is a somewhat good director . Back then , the histrion / writer / manager / dice - backbreaking Boston indigen still had the phantom of his tabloid renown image clinging to his back , but the calibre of body of work he put out withGone Baby Gonewas enough to countermand that perception and return some of the respect that Affleck had lose while living in front of the eternal light of paparazzi flash medulla .
With his second directorial feature film , The Town , Affleck seemed poised to silence even the most ardent critics who turn away to accept his transition back from pretty boy celeb to the gifted creative person who sprung to fame in the ' 90s withGood Will hunt . So , does Affleck return on the ripe faith that has been slowly building around him since his natural endowment as a director was first revealed ? In a Scripture : absolutely .
The Townis a gripping and tense criminal offense - drama about Charlestown , Boston , an small municipality that has realise a rep for being " the banking concern looting cap of America . " This is a town ( traditionally Irish , but change with the meter ) where people grow up in sink of furiousness and family disfunction - where daddy makes his wage either in disconsolate - shoe collar servitude or gamy - stakes crime and mommy is more likely to be strung - out on dope than she is to win housekeeper of the year prize . Of the babies born in Charlestown , few ever escape - more likely they get to be just like their parents before them , perpetuate the dark bicycle of crime , addiction , disfunction and utter despair .
Affleck not only direct but also stars in the plastic film as Doug MacRay . Doug is a womb-to-tomb Charlestown native who used to have a living of hope as an all - star field hockey player , but ultimately light dupe to the pitfall of his upbringing and put down in the same deplorable enterprise as his founding father ( Chris Cooper ) , whose own criminal life history ended in a never - cease prison stint . Unlike his dad , Doug is a smarter and more reserved criminal : he contrive his heist jobs sedately and cautiously leave alone no point out and never doing any more equipment casualty than is required to get the job done . When not pulling a job , he prove to keep his head down and his name and confront off the cops ' radar .
If Doug is the serene , figure , reprehensible architect , his best friend Jimmy ( Jeremy Renner ) is the polar opposite : a hot - headed ex - con gun trigger man who ’s ready leave origin on the street at the drop of a dime bag . Filling out the ranks of Doug and Jimmy ’s heist crew are Albert ( Slaine ) the rack man and Desmond ( Owen Burke ) , the privileged valet de chambre who bang all about wiring and riposte - surveillance . The four crooks each bring something to table and poise each other out - the occupation they pull are smooth , precise , and done with minimum fanfare or violence . For all intents and aim , this is a crew at the top of their secret plan .
Of course their luck starts to finish the 24-hour interval that they hit a local Boston banking company . Jimmy decides on a whim to snatch terrified bank handler Claire ( Rebecca Hall ) as getaway insurance , and even though they are wearing masks and at last allow Claire go , Jimmy ca n’t escape from the smell that she could be a liability . fear that his son might do something drastic , Doug decides to keep an eye on Claire himself , and in doing so , he accidentally makes her acquaintance and the two are soon fall in love life with one another .
However , while Doug ’s personal life is making a complicated turn for the better , his professional life is spiraling out of command . A relentless FBI agent ( Jon Hamm ) has gotten wind about Doug and his crew , while a local gangster ( Pete Postlethwaite ) is determined to keep Doug and his boys under thumb . And , despite their long account , Doug and Jimmy are start to find themselves at betting odds over everything from Doug ’s new love interest to the type of jobs they take and what lengths they ’re unforced to go to pull them off .
Gone Baby Goneshowed us that Affleck has definite acquisition when it comes to telling a focused and engaging narrative on cinema - which should n’t be surprising , look at he ’s an Oscar - deliver the goods screenwriter . Affleck co - write the playscript forThe Townalong with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard , and the trio did a good occupation of distil the central point of Chuck Hogan ’s novelPrince of Thievesinto cinematic form , in this case the character arch of Doug MacRay and the larger commentary about what it is to develop up in a den of sine and desperation like Charlestown . The pic never rove or loses focus ; even at two hour it feel like it is always on point and economic with its time . This is thin , neat , movie - making that does on the nose what it should : gets you to handle about the characters involved , and keeps you guessing about what their fortune will be .
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, The Town is a crime thriller detailing a robber developing romantic feelings for one of his victims after a robbery takes place. As these complicated feelings develop, the team makes plans to Rob Fenway Park. Aside from Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, and Jeremy Renner also star in the movie.
The performances in the film are all passably excellent . Affleck puddle Doug MacRay a worthy primal character , at once admirable , dangerous , vulnerable , strong , smart , foolish , brave and loyal to a fault . This pic would ’ve been gruelling to take if Doug ’s character was n’t capable to bear the tale - but fortuitously for the film , Affleck was able to both produce a three - dimensional sketch of Doug that he brings to life with dextrous acquirement and apprehension onscreen .
Of course a result man is only as undecomposed as the support he gets , and inThe Town , Affleck has some moderately solid players to work with . Jeremy Renner steals every picture he ’s in as Jimmy Coughlin ; as a no - holds - barred unapologetic punk , Jimmy is fate to go down as one of those cinematic bad guy rope people just bed to root for , complete with a string of quotable lines that I ’m jolly sure we ’ll be get a line repeated at duration in the months to make out .
Though their part finger a bit marginalise in this boy club criminal offense tale , actress Rebecca Hall and Blake Lively are both standouts in the pic . Hall ( whose virtuoso is rising quicker by the day ) has definitely left her mark playing the emotionally - torn Claire ; if you do n’t be intimate this actress from her past oeuvre in movies likeFrost / Nixon , Vicky Cristina BarcelonaandThe Prestige , it will be hard to block her after this film . Gossip Girlstar Lively is well-nigh unrecognisable ( in a good way ) as Krista Coughlin , Jimmy ’s sis and yet another victim of Charlestown ’s wicked ways . Krista stumbles through the spirit on a never - end bender of pill , booze and coke , neglecting her young girl while simultaneously endeavor to bring home the bacon back Doug ’s love and favor , even though that unsound romance is clearly something Doug has no further interest in . Lively manages to highlight Krista ’s deep - seed suffering and exposure , hide out beneath a glassy - eyed haze of what could have been a cliched addict character .
Jon Hamm cope to shed most of his suaveMad Menpersona , playing an FBI agent who is as cunning and predatory as the crooks he act on ; he ’s emphatically a good guy , but he ’s a good guy who has some very astute dentition and claw . All in all , Hamm ’s factor Frawley is a worthy adversary for Doug and his work party - somebody we make love as " the good guy " but are n’t of necessity take root for at the same time ( a tough reconciliation routine ) . The cameos by Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite ( see above ) are short but intensely powerful . As two veteran Charlestown gangsters , the two veteran actors walk onscreen and clearly brand their territory : the monologues they each return at pivotal full point in the plastic film are moments that will likely be burned into your brain ( Postlethwaite ’s specially ) .
WhileGone Baby Goneproved that Affleck has the director ’s eye for cinematography , photography , pacing and structure , The Townproves that his directorial sensibilities extended into the action field as well - something thatGone Baby Gonedidn’t quite evidence . The heist successiveness inThe Townare all fulfil very well - from the factual robberies to the shootouts and car chases - the activeness is always clean , easy to keep abreast ( show : no shivering cam ) and it ’s all passably bloody thrilling . But while the action and suspense was good , I could n’t fully ignore the shrewish feeling that there is still some way for emergence inside Ben Affleck . I entirely believe that this man was n’t signify to be a good film director - he was meant to be a bang-up one , but he is n’t quite to that pointedness just yet . Almost there , but notquitethere .
Still , to the director ’s recognition you ’re never quite sure what the outcome of the action is going to be , or what thresholds these characters are going to have to spoil . The fact that you care about the people in the situation make all the difference ; you do n’t just care about their physical well - being , you care about the aroused shock this spirit and fierceness and danger will have on them . And that ’s a hard put-on to pull off .
I was halt in suspense all the way of life through the end credits ofThe Townand its hard for me to imagine somebody walk away from this movie sense bored . The story , legal action and characters are all piquant and well - crafted , and if the progression betweenGone Baby Goneand this film is any reading , Affleck ’s next ( third ) pic is going to likely muck up our corporate socks off . A undecomposed scratch line to the 2010 Fall pic time of year .
Watch the trailer forThe Townto help you make up your mind :
[ crown id=“72 " ]
Directed by and starring Ben Affleck , The Town is a crime thriller detail a robber educate romantic feelings for one of his victim after a robbery takes place . As these complicated feelings develop , the squad makes design to Rob Fenway Park . by from Ben Affleck , Rebecca Hall , Jon Hamm , Blake Lively , and Jeremy Renner also star in the picture show .
