After an impressive directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck‘s follow-up, The Town, takes place in the mean streets of Boston where bank robberies are booming. This film is stylish and rough with a great script and outstanding performances by Affleck, Jeremy Renner, and Rebecca Hall.
This crime-thriller centers around a group of guys who make a living robbing banks. But when a witness is taken during one of their heists, one of the robbers, Doug MacRay (Affleck), begins a relationship with her. At first, it is to get information and find out what she knows, but soon it evolves into something much deeper.
This is the event that sets everything into motion. The rest of the film picks the robberies and those involved apart. Not only does Doug have to worry about Claire (Hall), the hostage, but the trigger-happy loose cannon James Coughlin (Renner) as well. All of the guys involved with the robberies have to look over their shoulders for FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm). He wants all of them captured and put in prison to rot.
Affleck knows how to dissect Boston and make it seem dirty and tough. He sets the film at a good pace and sets the tone at the very beginning. These characters are relentless and hardly show compassion. Doug is one of the rare ones that steals but tries not to hurt anyone in the process. That cannot be said for the rest of his team.
Affleck gives a terrific performance and being able to deliver a top-notch performance while directing is a difficult thing to do. But he succeeds at both jobs. We got to see his talent behind the camera for the first time in Gone Baby Gone, and he keeps striving to be a better actor and director. His talent is repeated in The Town, as he plays one of his best roles in several years.
Also, Affleck got a great cast to surround him. Hall shined in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona and her character Claire is a fragile, scared woman after being taken hostage and not knowing whether she will live or die. Her character displays the emotion and compassion that all of the tough guys are missing.
And at the other end of the spectrum, we have Renner. He was just nominated for his role in The Hurt Locker, and playing James is a different, but wild role. He is not afraid to kill anyone if it has to be done. For the rest of the guys, he is a risk because he is unpredictable. And Renner is really good at being unpredictable.
Hamm has demanded attention from his wonderful performance in TV’s Mad Men but his movie choices have not been so great. He really comes through in this film and plays the tough cop with passion and wit. He does not play the dumb cop who never goes looking but shows up in the end somehow. His character is there throughout and determined as ever. The scene with him and Affleck is one of the best. There are other good supporting performances by Blake Lively, who plays Krista, James’ sister and an old love of Doug’s, and Chris Cooper as Doug’s father.
The Town has great suspense and plenty of thrills. The robberies themselves deliver great excitement and violence for all to enjoy. At the same time, there is a story about these people with their struggles and fears who are trapped in a town that is no good. It has poisoned some of these guys and has become unescapable. Everything is put out in place and set up just right and that is due to the intelligence and talent of Ben Affleck’s directing. And with him behind the camera, he captured excellent performances from everyone including himself.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
