The Town

Being a huge fan of Ben Affleck's decision to stop acting some years back, I was quite impressed with his directing. He successfully reinvented himself, and he did it behind the camera. Gone Baby Gone was his directorial debut which I'll review another day. That film got me backing him as the next Eastwood. As for his second feature The Town, I have never been more excited about a rental. Probably because I failed on 3 occasions to make it to the theater. It did not disappoint. Gripping, exhilarating, intense, and unique. I say unique and not original because unique refers to the details. Original would be if it were the first film ever about a bank heist. The film follows four friends who knock off banks and armored transports in Charlestown, which is South Boston. Its also the #1 area for bank robberies in the nation. This particular crew headed up by Dougie (Affleck), with his BFF Jim (Renner) running second lead, these guys know every detail of every job before it even happens. The crew is rather successful, but Jim's hot headedness is gonna be the end of Doug, or so he thinks. The film follows Dougie's struggle with being a gangster, taking care of family, and wondering what to do next. Jim does a bad thing opening the movie. He takes a hostage. She is mortified and knows she is gonna die. They release her and don't think anything of it, until they do. Jim wants to snuff her out, but Dougie doesn't roll that way. He "meets" her and asks her out. She is very forth coming with what she has endured and let's Doug know what little detail she has. This leads to one of the most stressful scenes ever watched. At about 40 minutes into the film, I was sitting there and all of the sudden my heart was beating out of my chest. Any film that can feel that real is doing its job. The heat on the crew is turned up by the Feds on the case. That plus he is falling for the hostage girl has him re-evaluating everything. Jim is has real issues with Dougies new lot in life and is starting to feel betrayed. Dougie has to agree to one last job because his girls life is being threatened if he walks away. It is the mother of all heists. With Feds closing in each day they know they must be perfect. They also know its a bit of a suicide mission, but these guys are fearless. Affleck once again returns to his Boston roots with The Town. They say, write what you know. He knows this. The people, the language, the way things are and if all his films revolve around bean town I would be ok with that. We've got Good Will Hunting, Gone Baby Gone, and now The Town. It was actually pleasant to see him back in front of the camera as his performance is splendid, but I do feel he was out shined by his co- star Jeremy Renner who is a little too gritty for my taste. You can always tell Affleck is always a little uncomfortable around him, like he may just snap. He's tired of the life and has a decision to make....if only it were that easy.

NBM rates The Town - Phenomenal

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