Heist film of the year for me here, a film that grabbed me by the balls and dragged me deep into its's criminal world, a film directed by and starring none other than Ben Affleck, a Film that many have referred to as a rip off of heat, a film that i absolutely love, that film is THE TOWN...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There was a time in the 70s where the crime thriller tookover and we were given such classics as Dirty Harry, The French Connection and Death Wish but we were also given smaller lesser known films such as Charley Varrick, The Silent Partner and The Seven Ups, during the 80s, the crime thriller disappeared, there were a few but they lost the whole crit and realism that preceded them during the 70s, sure films like Scarface came out, but even that had a lot of style and glamour, then came the 90s and a sort resurgence of gritty crime movies happened mainly thanks to the likes of Reservoir dogs and especially Michael Mann's Heat, but it wasn't until the early 00s that we saw that grit and realism return properly to the 'crime' genre. Forget the whole cockney geezer brit crime films that came out, im talking the heist film, David Mamet's excellently scripted film Heist got released, then we had The Inside Man, The Bank Job and too a degree Martin Scorcese's The Departed. That's a lot of films, but in 2010 actor/writer/director Ben Affleck gave us his Heist film....The Town. A Film that does borrow from other films but bases it's plot around a series of FBI cases that just so happen to resemble previous films. The Town is an all out Crime thriller, set on the streets of Boston in a 1 mile area known as Charlestown. The Area is known as the armed robbery capital of America and Affleck and his crew are smack dab right in the center of this area. The Town follows him and his crew as they pull off job after job and the consequences of certain actions taken.
THE PLOT:
In Boston's bleak Charlestown, criminals depend on a code of silence; those caught serve their time. Doug MacRay masterminds bank robberies with three friends: the hotheaded Jem, Des, an electrician, and Al, their driver. After a dicey bank job, Doug must make sure the female bank manager, Claire, who lives in Charlestown, doesn't know who they are. He contrives to meet her and then finds her appealing. As the FBI zeroes in on the gang, Doug wants out, Claire doesn't know who he really is, and Jem and their money launderer, an aging florist, insist that Doug do one more job. Are prison and death the only ways out of Charlestown? (Source IMDB.com)
THE CAST:
BEN AFFLECK as Doug
Ok i'll be the first to admit that I am an Affleck fan, sure he's made some appalling films like Gigli and Raindeer Games but there's something about the guy that keeps me entertained and his performance as Doug MacRay in The Town is fantastic, it's just a shame that his counterpart in this is played by Jeremy Renner who happens to be a phenomenal actor, so he kind of gets over shadowed, but he is still very good and drops the whole ' i think i have good comic timing but really don't' thing and gives us a great performance for a character that knows that what he does is wrong and that he ultimately wants out and there is a sort of chemistry between him and Rebecca Hall. He's never going to win a best actor Oscar but if he continues on this path, he will definitely turn into a great character actor....
JEREMY RENNER as Jim Coughlin
Jeremy Renner completely steals the film as Doug's unstable best friend who is all for shooting first and asking questions later, The banter and conversations between him and Affleck are great and he does unfortunately over shadow Affleck, but he gets away with it because the two actors work very well together. It's good to see Renner getting the recognition for the film as he has a 2011 Oscar Nomination for Best supporting actor for The Town after narrowly missing out on Best actor last year for The Hurt Locker.
But as Jimmy he is fantastic.
REBECCA HALL as Claire
i have a bit of a problem with Rebecca Hall in this film as i feel she was miscast because she seems out of place in a film that is basically about Bostonians, but like most British actors and actresses, her yank accent is very generic and kind detracts from the character. She was good but still i think she was slightly miscast.
JON HAMM as FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley
Now I am not familiar with Hamm as an actor having never seen his show Mad Men, but he was really good in this, he reminded me of Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive. His character seems to stop at nothing to track these guys down. I will have to look out for Hamm's future project and check out Mad Men. He looked like a cross between Javier Bardem and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
BLAKE LIVELY as Krista Coughlin
She was the most surprising addition to the cast and also the most surprising acting wise. She play's Renner's sister who is a drunk whore with a kid that may be Affleck's. The character is so far removed from her characters in films such as Accepted and her TV show Gossip Girl and she is great, she plays the hot messed up character really well and who eventually realises she has to do the right thing for her and her child.
PETE POSTLETHWAITE as Fergie
The great Pete died unfortunately on 2nd of Jan this year after battling cancer and from his role in The Town it was evident that the cancer was there as the man was incredibly thin and looking gaunt, but being the marvellous actor that he was still managed to pull of a fantastic performance as the irish gangster who hires Ben and his crew for the Fenway Park heist. His character is old school Irish and just plain evil. This was is last but one role and if he is remember for anything i hope it's as Fergie. Such a shame to lose such a fantastic and well loved and respected actor...
The Support cast included Titus Welliver (the man in black from LOST), Slaine (?) and Chris Cooper.
THE DIRECTION:
Having not seen Affleck's previous directing gig, Gone Baby Gone, i had nothing to compare it too, but what is saw was a tightly shot film that reminded me of Michael Mann and Scorsese (not that im saying He is on Par with those too, but reminded me of them), angles are spot on, the lighting is right and the set pieces such as the opening heist and the Nun Heist are brilliantly shot and edited. Affleck Does seem to have a control which is always a good thing and directing himself in this film must have been difficult. I am looking forward to seeing what he does next and am now going to see Gone Baby Gone.
MY FINAL VERDICT:
The Theatrical version of the film is 125 mins, i watched the extended cut that ran too 150mins so i can't compare the two. but i found my self sucked into the world of The Town, gripped by the action scenes and blown away by the performances. For me The Town is the best heist film since Spike Lee's The Inside Man (2006) and loved each character even though you're not meant to have any form of sympathy for these criminals. The Town is a gripping action packed, Well written, directed and acted film that i highly recommend to fans of the Crime genre and film fans in general. It's not a remake, a re-imaging or a re-hashing, it does borrow from other films but is wholly engrossing and a great way to spend 150 minutes..
MY SCORE:
FILM: 9/10
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