TAKE TWO: “THE TOWN”

Chris’ Take:

*** 1/2 out of 4 stars

Ben Affleck‘s sophomore directorial release is just about flawless. While it is not necessarily an original concept, it combines elements of The Departed and Heat in a taut manner while having fully-fleshed out characters that perfectly add to the tension within the story. Who would have thought that the Ben Affleck from Gigli would direct such a thoughtful piece of cinema?  

The Town opens on a bank robbery in Boston, which appears to be conducted by Skeletor clones who are in fact Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), his best friend Jimmy (Jeremy Renner) and the rest of their heist crew.  Due to a minor setback Jimmy takes the bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), hostage and after they are clear set her free. Claire is immediately questioned by FBI Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) and Doug follows her to make sure that she does not give anything significant away to the FBI. While he is following her he falls in love, threatening his own and his crew’s safety. While he tries to salvage his love and get out of town he finds that the city has more of a grip on his life than he thought.

Affleck continues his directorial success after Gone Baby Gone and, in my opinion, improves on it. He not only tells a compelling story with  complex characters like he did with Gone, but this time adds exciting action and bank heists, which he also helped script as well. He is able to build tension not only through shootouts and bank heists, but between the characters as well, fully fleshing out almost every key character introduced (minus Jon Hamm who looked uncomfortable in FBI attire).

I'm not moving until I get a suit and tie.

Jeremy Renner has another spectacular performance as the mentally unbalanced and hot-headed Jimmy and Affleck does a decent job in front of the camera as well.

While the action sequences weren’t as intense as Heat they were still palpable and engaging. Especially the final shootout and a car chase scene that seemed dedicated to every soccer mom with road rage. The pacing was spot on, moving seamlessly in between drama fueled discussions, detailed planning, and then heist execution, which kept the audience engaged for the full two hours.

I look forward to more of Affleck’s work as a director since I prefer him behind the camera than in front of it. He seems to have redefined himself successfully, managing to pull himself away from the tabloids and blockbuster films and create a more serious image that deserves recognition for his excellent work.

Pac’s Take:

It will be really hard for me to justify both being disappointed by this movie while also really liking it, but somehow The Town was able to elicit both of those responses from me after viewing it last night.  I think I left the movie let down for two reasons, the first being that I had incredibly high expectations for this film based on marketing, reviews, cast, and how much I really liked Gone Baby Gone.  The second reason I would like to discuss later.

The Town is a well executed heist movie, but nothing that I haven’t seen before.   Of all the reboots and remakes made in Hollywood today, it’s ironic that this movie, based on Prince of Thieves: A Novel by Chuck Hogan, felt more like Heat: Boston.  I can only fault Ben Affleck and Peter Craig but so much for this because, while not very original, The Town kept my attention for the entire run time (123 minutes), captivated me, and left me (almost) entirely satisfied.

What really made this movie stand out as a great film were the performances by Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner.  The chemistry these two had on screen was outstanding and this, in my opinion, is the best dramatic performance of Ben Affleck’s career. 

Even better than Daredevil?

Meanwhile, Jeremy Renner stole every scene in which he appeared.  His portrayal of Jimmy, adequately described above by Chris, was the highlight of this film and I yearned for more scenes between him and Affleck.  I firmly believe both of these men will be acknowledged by the Academy for their performances in this film, and rightfully so.  Even Blake Lively’s performance was adequate, even though it seemed like a rehash of Amy Ryan’s from Gone Baby Gone.  But if Affleck was DeNiro and Renner was Kilmer, I think John Hamm missed the bar for Pacino.  John Hamm’s performance felt uncomfortable and forced.  I’m not sure if you can attribute this to him or the lack of depth given to the character, but too much of the story focused on FBI S.A. Frawley’s pursuit of Doug MacRay (Affleck) for the execution to fall this short. 

Ben Affleck stepped up his directorial “game” from Gone Baby Gone adding a lot of action to his repertoire; and as good as his acting was in this film, his directing was spot on as well.  The cinematography was great, and I felt like Boston (and Charlestown more specifically) was just as much a character in this film as any person. 

SPOILER ALERT (very minor, but don’t get mad at me for not warning you)

But then there’s the issue of the second reason I left the theater disappointed.  I heard coming into this movie how great the climax was and that it takes place in Fenway Park.  I was expecting this to be awesome, a heist movie building up to its epic climactic scene in Fenway (what’s more Boston than that?)!  Unfortunately the climax was anything but epic.  I was expecting a gunfight on the field, under the lights, in/on the “green monster”, all to the viewing of 37,000 fans.  What I got instead was a finale that could have been located at any parking garage, loading dock, etc. 

This climax truly could have been EPIC in the most literal sense.  Fenway Park is one of the most famous and recognizable stadiums in the country and there was so much potential to make this climax so memorable that it would have been talked about and compared to for generations.  Instead, it was just another heist movie ending, predictable.  Bait, The Fan, and The Last Boy Scout are three examples that The Town should have looked to for inspiration on the climax.  While none of these movies are nearly as good, they all maximized the use of their final setting, something this film did not do.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the movie ended poorly; just don’t tell me you’re going to Fenway and only show me the garage.

Seen Above: The Sistine Chapel

Here are my overall grades for The Town:

Characters: A-
Cinematography: B+
Direction:  A
Performances: A-
Plot: B-
Overall:  A-