The Town

Ben Affleck's sophomore effort is no slump. He solidifies himself as a director to be reckoned with at the helm of the star-studded film The Town. Set in Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston that is notorious for its disproportionate number of bank robberies, Affleck is back in his element, letting the accent run wild and donning the cinematic Boston uniform like a bastard; the wicked track suit and hoody. (I had to try). Boston's sports team logos are given as much screen time as the stars, but I can't hold that against a guy.

Affleck runs a crew of very good bank robbers and locks horns with a zealous and a little bit shady, but in a respectable way FBI agent played by John Hamm. The tension builds, surprisingly through dialogue and character development more than traditional cops and robbers action and end up in a suspenseful standoff worthy of Michael Mann's approval.

In a move that is very Eastwood-esque, Affleck takes the starring role and although he does a commendable job, his talents are better served behind the camera, although he did manage to give himself the gratuitous shirtless workout scene and he got ripped for the role. Jeremy Renner stands out as the gritty best friend with a chip on his shoulder and a proclivity for violence. He pulls off Boston pretty well for a California kid, and and is truly becoming a strong leading man after his breakthrough role in The Hurt Locker last year. He has no less than three huge projects lined up for the next two years: Teaming up with Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible IV, working with Paul Thomas Anderson (Top 2-3 directors around today) and Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master, and playing Hawkeye in the heavily anticipated 2012 Marvel flick Avengers. Didn't I call a rise to stardom after SWAT?

John Hamm takes a break from Mad Men to play the FBI agent tracking the robbers, and he is given the best lines of the bunch. This is the role that must have been coveted in Hollywood, and as much as I enjoy Hamm as Don Draper, I would have chosen someone a little older and a little more intimidating. That role itself could have propelled someone to an Oscar and the film itself to the top of the awards pile.

The rest of the cast is just average save one brilliant five minute cameo. Pete Postlethwaite, Rebecca Hall, and Blake Lively contribute to the film, but it is Chris Cooper who plays Affleck's imprisoned father who owns the screen in a prison visitation scene. He is simply captivating.

Critics tout this as being The Departed meets Heat, and I couldn't disagree more. The only thing it has in common with The Departed is the setting. Heat? Perhaps, just without the epic appeal, cat and mouse, and prolonged gunfight sequences. The Town is less cerebral and more visceral. The characters have nothing to lose and seem to be magnetized to their neighborhood with some sort of pride and sense of obligation that is completely lost on me. It is a pathetic criminal existence that brings up a lot of questions.

There was one particular flaw in the development of this story that made me scratch my head a little. If an area of town truly had the reputation as the bank robbery capital of the country, wouldn't there be some sort of additional precaution taken by the banks or armored transports? More armed guards or a heightened state of alertness? Wishful thinking that would have decimated the effectiveness of the movie.

I liked this movie very much, and respect the hell out of Affleck as a director and a writer (although the word range is yet to be added to his lexicon). It may have been released prematurely to be seriously considered, but it was definitely the first contender out of the gates. Go see this for Renner, Cooper, and the suspense of the last thirty minutes alone, appreciate the story and the action. 9/10.