The Town

I really enjoyed Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck's directorial debut) so I had high hopes for The Town which did not disappoint. Then to learn in the credits that he was also a co-writer of the screenplay was a nice treat. This was based on the book Prince of Thieves by Charles Hogan. Brief synopsis: a bank robber starts seeing a woman he met on a heist while planning his next job and trying to stay clear of the FBI.

So this is about a group of friends in Charlestown which is a section of Boston that has the highest robbery rate per capita. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) and his best friend Jem Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) head of this group of four, which also includes a car guy and a tech guy. In the opening bank robbery we meet bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) who is forced to open the vault with gentle guidance from one of the skeleton masked robbers. Guess which one he is? Seriously, the masks make them look like they could join Slipknot and nobody would really blink an eye. In this robbery we also meet another bank employee played by Victor Garber. I was excited. I didn't know he was in this movie. He's not. That's the only time you see him. I'm hoping he came back later but the scenes had to be cut for time. What a waste if that's not the case.

So these robbers end up with Claire's license and it turns out she lives in Charlestown... not four blocks from where they were holding their clandestine meeting. Coughlin wants to take care of it but MacRay says he'll do it. He chances a meeting with her in a laundromat and they strike up a relationship. I really don't know where he thought this could go. Neither does he.

Then we have F.B.I agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) who keeps getting even more and more pissed that these stupid Boston guys are getting away with robbery after robbery. He is also keeping an eye on Claire.

Lastly there is Jem Coughlin's sister Kirsta (Blake Lively) who has had an on-again-off-again romance with Doug MacRay seemingly her whole life. He would like to keep it in the off-again position. She has a daughter and is constantly high on oxy.

All the performances in this movie are astounding. I'm especially surprised by how two ridiculously pretty people like Jon Hamm and Blake Lively are dirtied up. All the men seemed to have a permanent five o'clock shadow. Lively's Boston accent sounded just like Affleck's, which saying something since he's from Boston and she's a California girl.

I love it when Renner plays slightly crazy. He just does it so well. I'm also loving Hall in this film. She is such a little known actress that I hope she gets some name recognition after this. I enjoyed her so much more than Scarlett in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

If I get the chance I'll see this movie again. The Boston accent can be a little hard at times to make out. Affleck likes close-ups on people's faces while prefer wide shots, but at this point I'm simply nit-picking. It is a really great movie.