The Town Review

Ben Affleck comes back to “Town” with a great heist film.

In 2007, Ben Affleck wowed everyone with his directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone” and now has followed up that success with “The Town”. The film is directed by Affleck and he also stars in it with Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and Jon Hamm (Mad Men). The film takes place in Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston, the world’s capital for carjacking, kidnappings, and armed robberies. The film follows Doug MacRay (Affleck) as he plans his next heist and tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager (Hall) connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as being pursued by an FBI agent (Hamm) trying to take him and his crew down.

Affleck’s directing is spot-on as he creates exciting bank heist scenes and his direction also has the restraint to let the actors in the scenes carry the film. The script is exciting and fast paced, but relies a bit too much on characters stating their wants or other characters wants in dialogue. The cast’s performances turn strong work in these situations and manage to hold our attention. The film is tight, but almost too tight to give breathing room for supporting characters to have some screen time. Hamm’s FBI agent isn’t given much except to be the raging good guy and fill us in with why he hates bank robbers with a passion. Blake Lively, playing Renner’s sister and Affleck’s spurned love, is mostly absent from the film until the last act where she gives a good performance with that little time.

The actors who do appear throughout most of the film give strong performances and coupled with Affleck’s really good directing means for a good film. “Gone Baby Gone” may have been a stronger film overall and a demonstration that Affleck is better behind the camera than in front of, but “The Town” is no slouch of a film. The three action scenes in “The Town” are packed with excitement, drama and comedy that makes up for its few short comings. This is a film that shows that “Gone Baby Gone” wasn’t a fluke and that Affleck’s acting skills shouldn’t be disregarded.

If you haven’t seen Affleck’s “Gone Baby Gone”, go out and do it now. That film shows what Affleck can do when he is directing and sports a great performance by his brother Casey Affleck. This film shows that Affleck has a promising career ahead of him in directing if he wants to stop acting. The film is like Michael Mann’s “Heat”, but set in Boston and is definitely worth a look in this dull year for film. You’re only hurting yourself if you skip this solid crime-drama because Affleck is involved in the film.