The Town Review

It’s easy to confuse Ben Affleck with your prototypical Hollywood leading man.

He’s had the high-profile, off-screen relationships (I’m guessing he even had a few with women NOT named “Jennifer”), he’s played a superhero (don’t act like you forgot about “Daredevil”), and he’s even a former People magazine “Sexiest Man Alive.” (My application that year must've gotten lost in the mail.)

But to me, Ben Affleck is like Brad Pitt – he looks like a megastar, (mostly) behaves like a megastar, but deep down he’s just a really good looking, super-famous character actor. That is to say, I believe Affleck (like Pitt) does his best work when he is part of a capable ensemble and doesn’t have the burden of carrying a movie by himself.

And so it goes without saying that I’m thoroughly enjoying the current reinvention of Affleck’s career as an acclaimed director who occasionally stars in compelling adult dramas.

Don’t get me wrong: I was never mad at Affleck for most of his disastrous choices. I mean, if a studio threw millions of dollars at me to wear a red leather S&M outfit and pretend I was blind, I would’ve signed up for a “Daredevil” trilogy! (“Gigli”, on the other hand, is inexcusable). It’s just that Affleck looks more comfortable, engaged and natural onscreen in recent years.

It just feels like movies such as “The Town” is the stuff he should’ve been doing all along.

Affleck stars in, directs and co-writes (along with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard) the heist drama set in Charlestown, an area of Massachusetts that is considered to be the bank robber capital of America Affleck plays Doug MacRay, a Charlestown native and the de-facto brains of a bank robbing crew, which also includes his volatile childhood friend Jimmy Coughlin (Jeremy Renner, who’ll likely be picking up an Oscar nomination for this role).

During the tense, brutal robbery that opens the movie, the crew takes bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage, no knowing she lives in the same neighborhood. To make sure she’s not a threat, Doug decides to check her out, and eventually becomes too close to Claire (especially for Jimmy’s liking).

Meanwhile, the crew is being hunted by an amusingly dogged FBI agent (Jon Hamm), who doesn’t realize his partner (Titus Welliver) is the personification of evil. (Ok, I promise I’ll try even harder to not bring “Lost” into my movie reviews.)

I probably spent WAY too much time explaining what happens in the movie over the course of the last three paragraphs, but there’s a reason (and it has nothing to do with me wanting to spoil the movie). “The Town” doesn’t really have very many surprises up his sleeve. As my girlfriend Erica astutely pointed out, the entire story plays out in an almost Shakespearean way in that we (the audience) know what’s going to happen, the characters in the story know what’s going to happen, and yet there’s no choice but to watch everything play out.

Affleck (the director) does a good job of keeping the mood tense, and an even better job of using his obvious familiarity with the film’s setting to bring a tremendous amount of detail and character to Charlestown. Affleck (the actor) does a pretty damn fine job too. Doug is a charismatic lughead who also radiates enough street smarts to make you think he could head up a bank robbing crew. Most importantly, Erica practically swooned when he was dressed as a police officer.

Affleck (the writer) didn’t exactly match his contributions as a director and actor. I felt like the love story between Doug and Claire was a bit rushed (not the fault of Affleck or even Hall, who played lovely and damaged extremely well) and, as I said earlier, the story doesn’t exactly have very many surprises in store, and doesn’t exactly dazzle you with the dialogue. (And I’m not just saying that because it took me about 30 minutes to get use to those thick accents.)

Fortunately, the acting (even Hamm’s occasional overacting – seriously, I kinda loved how weirdly intense his FBI agent was) elevates everything.

Jeremy Renner is the best thing in the movie because he brings an element of danger to every one of his scenes. What sets his “crazy live wire” performance apart from similar characters in other heist movies is the genuine vulnerability and betrayal shaded just underneath his intensity. Meanwhile, Blake Lively is flat-out OUTSTANDING as Krista, Jimmy’s sister, and a former flame of Doug’s. Lively, better-known for gracing magazine covers than for her acting chops, believably transforms into a grungy drug addict. If this is the caliber of work she brings to the table, I might have to start watching “Gossip Girl.” (In a related story, my sources tell me this isn’t always the caliber of work she brings to the table.)

Oscar winner Chris Cooper (as Doug’s dad) gives a brief, knock-out performance as Doug’s dad, and English actor Pete Postlethwaite has more fun with an Irish accent than probably any other performer this year as a local criminal big wig.

“The Town” is a solid crime movie which gets raised to another level by fantastic acting, and an emerging director who’s only just started to hit his groove.

The Town…B+