I am normally not a fan of Ben Affleck's work. With The Town, however, he puts forward his best piece to date. Affleck directs and stars in this blue-collar heist film. With obvious nods to such crime movies as 1995's Heat and the 1981 James Caan classic Thief. This movie delves the depths of the relationships between lifelong friends involved in the world of armored car and bank robbery. Although it plods along at certain points, the crime scenes (no pun intended) are well paced and full of action with just a dash of tension for good measure. Affleck shows that he has the chops to put together a good story and tell it well.
The other stars include Pete Postlethwaite (The Usual Suspects, Inception) as the local "boss", and in a great turn as Affleck's best friend: Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, 28 Weeks Later). Renner just gets better every time I see him perform. He dominates every scene he is in with a powerful performance as a sociopath looking to maintain his lifestyle, yet not lose his best friend. Not quite the performance he put into Hurt Locker, but not too far behind it, either. My main concern with the performances, was that I really only got attached to was Doug MacRay (Affleck). If this was by design, it did a great disservice to the other characters who should have gotten the same writing treatment. There were no real "good guys" in this, and I feel the movie suffered for it.
In conclusion, a really good movie that could have used just one more rewrite to fill out those flawed characters. Worth a rental, at least. Enjoy it with someone and have a lively debate afterward about the influence of environment in upbringing. 8/10.
Tomorrow's movie: Producer Peter Jackson's District 9. See you tomorrow and, GO WATCH A MOVIE!!
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