Elisa's Review of "The Town"
I love a movie that makes me think while I am watching it, a replays over and over in my head afterwards. Naïve’ reviewers have made several comparisons to “Good Will Hunting” most obviously because of the involvement of Ben Affleck and Boston in both. While GWH was a brilliant film set in the academia worlds of Harvard and MIT, “The Town” was adapted from Chuck Hogan’s novel “The Prince of Thieves,” and
is an old-fashion, shoot ‘em up bank robber film. There are no modern-day “Hacker” heroes” downloading shift schedules, bank accounts, and reprogramming surveillance cameras. Instead, this is a movie about the struggles and acceptance of life-long friends who grew up in drug-infested, crime-ridden Charlestown. However, Charlestown is more to the storyline of “The Town” than just a place. The Boston neighborhood is a character in the movie: A place where bank robbery is handed-down through generations, drug addiction is rampant, and the ice rink is only used for kick-ball.
An IN SHAPE Affleck is joined by Jeremy Renner, known for his break-out role in the 2010 Oscar-wining film “The Hurt Locker.” Renner’s role, as James “Jem” Coughlin. Life-long friends. Dough Mackay play by Affleck and Jem are the “leaders” of an efficient, and experienced bank robbing team who are sent and jobs by the “Mob Boss” of Charlestown, “The Florist.”
The Florist, who actually has a flower shop in Charlestown, is an old time “Townie” who picks the take and demands a cut of every “job” the team takes.
Masked, the group commits a brief and quick robbery at a bank across the river. A young bank teller played by Rebecca Hall is selected to open the vault. Unable to collect herself to remember the combination, Affleck takes her hand and reassures her she will be fine if she remains calm. After emptying the vault, the bank teller is ordered to the ground with everyone else, using her toe, she sets off an alarm during the heist. She is taken as a hostage, blindfolded and is rushed across the river and back to Charlestown, where she is released on the shore of the Charles River.
One day after the successful heist, the group meets up at a defunct ice-rink to discuss the job. Jem produces the young teller’s identification card, only to inform the group her address is in Charlestown, increasing the possibility she could see one of the thieves on the streets and recognize them. Concerned Jem’s method of taking care of the teller is final, Affleck volunteers to watch her. And he does—creating a sweet and unlikely romance between the innocent bank teller and the doomed bank robber.
It is hard not to love Affleck’s Bostonian accent and his portrayal of a drug-addicted, bad-Irish boy turned good. The relationships between Affleck’s character, his friend Jem, and his ties to Charlestown, keep the viewer engaged in his compelling struggle. The bank robberies and chase scenes will have you holding your breath as you hope the bad guys somehow will become the good guys, to fight the bigger bad guys running Charlestown.
Ben's Review of "The Town"
With the success of "The Departed" there has seemingly been an influx of Boston based movies within the past five years, and with movies such as "The Fighter" set to hit theatres in December, is it possible for Ben Affeck to sneak in with some Beantown success? Well do not forget that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon effectively started the Boston movie trend with their break out hit "Good Will Hunting." Affleck admitted to doing movies only for the economic return in the early and mid 2000s and, since the success of his first directorial debut, 2006’s dark and fascinating child abduction caper "Gone Baby Gone," he has largely stayed out of acting, appearing only in cameos and bit parts such as "Clerks II," "Smokin Aces," and "He’s Just Not that Into You." So part of the allure of "The Town" is whether or not Affleck can direct and star in a movie without it turning into a vanity piece. More importantly is the movie worse seeing?
"The Town" is set in the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown which is notorious for housing the majority of Boston’s bank robbers. Affleck plays Doug, the very calculated and quick thinking architect for a crew of bank robbers. During one of their routine robberies, they are forced to take a bank manager Claire, played very well by Rebecca Hall, hostage. After dropping the hostage off the crew discovers that Claire actually lives in Charlestown. The crew’s muscleman James, played by Jeremy Renner, volunteers to “take care of it”. Knowing James’ pension for killing without remorse, Doug says he will handle the matter and begins trailing Claire to insure that she does not engage in any action that may result in the crew being reported to the FBI. One night while following Claire into a laundry mat, Doug inadvertently engages in a conversation with Claire and realizes that she probably will not give any leads to the FBI. Having been quite taken with Claire, Doug asks her out and they begin dating. The problem is the FBI, headed by Adam Fawley, played by John Hamm, is still trying to find the bank robbers and is still following and questioning Claire.
The crew continues to rob banks but Doug begins to grow tired of the stress involved with planning these heists as well as the unpredictability of James’ actions and temper. Doug makes a plan to get out but complications involving his on again off again girlfriend, the FBI, and the crime boss who finds the bank jobs all make leaving his life in Charlestown far more difficult than he imagined. So can Doug get out? Will Claire discover who really is? Will Matt Damon receive producing credits?
The genre of Heist movies is always ripe for clichés such as the “one last job scenario”, the “I am going to be found out at any point” issue, and of course the “loose cannon crazy gunman”. The beauty of The Town is that it contains all of these clichés but presents them in a very refreshing way. The movie’s main character does not set out to do one job and get outs scenario but comes to this realization very organically. The tension of being found out by the FBI and Claire is done by setting very believable events in motion in motion. Renner’s muscleman character is not over the top and is given a back story as to why he is not bothered by having to hurt other people. While comparisons could be made to "Heat," "The Town" truly stands apart because its pacing is well done and the back story and characters do not over complicate or over simplify the story. There are very strong, albeit small, performances by Chris Cooper as Doug’s imprisoned father, Pete Postelthwaite as the Irish crime boss, and a surprising Blake Lively as the drug addict girl friend. Additionally, and don’t let this get out, Affleck can act. If you have seen "Good Will Hunting," "Dazed and Confused," or even "Sum of All Fears" he can be a very convincing actor. Affleck is now proving that, with right director, he is not too bad at making movies.
4.25 die packs out of 5 and worth seeing in a theatre.
