Director: Ben Affleck
Co-written, directing and starring Ben Affleck,
The Town was his second attempt at directing after
Gone Baby Gone in 2007 which was also set against the crime underworld in the city of Boston. The film was adapted from the book
Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan and resulted in a much deserved Oscar nomination for Jeremy Renner for his role as James 'Jem' Coughlin.
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| The bank robbing gang |
The story follows four life long friends who rob a bank and take the manager Claire Keesey (the impressive Rebecca Hall) hostage but then release her without harming her. Doug (well acted by Ben Affleck) follows her afterwards to prevent her from testifying to the police about the men and also to stop Jem (the superb Jeremy Renner) from eliminating her as a witness. Unfortunately Doug starts to fall for Claire and the plot thickens as he decides to try and escape the criminal life to be with the woman he loves.
The portrayal of the tough streets of Charlestown and the projects seem completely genuine, Affleck manages to make the 4 gang members seem like normal guys, except maybe Jem, with no hope for success from any other means. In real life this tends to be the case, people like to live under the belief that people who commit these crimes are all violent maniacs like Jem in the film but that isn't always true. It's this human element that was completely missing from the film
Contraband (reviewed here:
Contraband review) that is present in
The Town.
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| Doug McRay (Ben Affleck) and James 'Jem' Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) argue |
Ben Affleck is impressive as the conflicted bank robber, thinking about whether he can escape the Boston crimeworld but Jeremy Renner is the star of the show, brutal and un-nerving. The praise for the cast doesn't end there as there are top notch performances in small parts by Pete Postlethwaite (bullying local crime boss Fergie), Jon Hamm (FBI Agent Adam Frawley) and Chris Cooper (Doug's incarcerated father Stephen). The action sequences, at the beginning and the end of the movie in particular, are incredibly tense but totally realistic. You begin to root for Doug and Jem which for me means the film has won me over.
3.5/4 sharply worked action sequences and strong lead performances
I very much enjoyed this film when it came out! Might be time to re-watch!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I wasn't sure I'd be that keen before I saw it but already seen it twice now!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because I thought with The Town Affleck hit the nail on the head in terms of directing and acting. His latest installment with Argo - I found a total waste.
ReplyDeleteI did really like The Town though... thought Affleck was a strong lead performer, though what really shone through was how rough and dangerous it is to be a bank in charlestown.