Directed by Ben Affleck
Score: 7.5 out of 10
This is as good a time as any to say I admire Ben Affleck. Here's a guy who went from struggling young actor to break-out phenom (with an Oscar on his mantle) to genuine, stalked-on-the-red-carpet, phoning-in-roles Movie Star. Now other than the fact he's a writer, this all doesn't seem too unusual until you realize Ben Affleck isn't a movie star anymore. And that's ultimately a good thing.
Shunned because he managed to let his girlfriends get the best of him and a few not-nearly-as-bad-as-everyone-seems-to-think movies (hey, I liked Jersey Girl!), Affleck didn't publicly delve into drugs or make a grab at whatever roles came his way to cash in on his declining popularity. No. What he did was step away from the spotlight, choosing roles that were memorable, but far from top billing. This was acting school by-fire and right around 2009's State of Play, it was pretty clear Affleck had turned himself into a damn fine actor.
He directed his first feature film too--2007's Gone Baby Gone, a thriller set in Affleck's beloved Boston that was, more or less, universally, if not loved, admired. That's why it surprised me when the trailer for The Town was released proclaiming it as being from "The Director of 'Gone Baby Gone'." No mention of Affleck. Considering how much he's accomplished since his self-imposed exile, this seemed disrespectful. What else does poor Ben have to do to wash off the stink of "Bennifer?" I don't know if The Town is it, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
The Town is a Ben Affleck film through and through. He directs, stars, and co-wrote the screenplay (it's based off the novel "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan) for this fine heist thriller about a group of friends living in Charlestown, MA who make their livings as bank robbers. According to the film, Charlestown has produced more bank robbers than any other city in the United States. In this mostly Irish suburb of Boston, thievery is a malicious genetic trait, passed from father to son. The town holds its young men prisoner until they finally graduate to a life behind bars.
Affleck plays Doug McRay, the leader of this band of thieves, which includes his second-in-command, wound-so-tight-you-can-hear-his-neck-cords-sing best friend Jim Coughlin (Jeremy Renner, who deserves some love come awards season). It's clear from the start that Doug is restless in his expected existence, feeling especially uncomfortable as the now clean and sober guy among buddies drenched in alcohol and a waste of an ex-girlfriend who taunts him with the Oxycodone she peddles to support her young daughter: "Don't you miss it?" she whispers in his ear as he sips his cranberry juice. Add to this an unrepentant jailbird daddy (Chris Cooper, who just oozes icky in his one fabulous scene) and questions about a mother who mysteriously vanished when he was just six, you wouldn't blame Doug for hopping the next bus for Florida. But he doesn't because that's not what the boys of Charlestown do.
So maybe that's why Doug is so quick to step out of his tiny world to meet someone with actual aspirations. Anyone who has seen The Town's trailer knows Doug hooks up with a pretty bank manager (Rebecca Hall), who was the victim of one of his crew's heists. If this subplot had turned into the driving force of The Town, the whole thing could have have fallen into the clutches of being maudlin, but it doesn't and isn't because Affleck's focus is clear--the relationship is just a device to further peer into the broken soul of our anti-hero Doug.
The heart of the story lies with Doug and his buddies who are being pushed into their Big Score by a sadistic mob boss known as The Florist (a creepy Pete Postlethwaite). That last job? Not what you would expect...and it drives the last third of the film as the FBI (well lead by Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Titus Welliver aka "The Man in Black" from LOST) close in for the proverbial showdown at the O.K. Corral.
There's little in The Town that's resolved unexpectedly: I don't think I'm spoiling much when I say the good guys (mostly) win, the bad guys don't, and our anti-hero Doug finds his way out of Charlestown. But what makes The Town good, bordering on great, is the execution. Affleck is becoming a handy director who knows how to pick or co-pen good scripts to display his burgeoning talent. It may seem trite that he's still stomping around Boston, but it fits him. He knows the city and he's able to make it come to life in a way that's respectful even when the film's residents are doing dope or shooting up a city street. Boston is to Affleck what New York is to Scorsese and I, for one, hope Affleck spends some more time there.
I have some disappointments and quibbles with The Town (for example, the FBI subplot, like Doug's romance, is more of a device than an interesting segue), but as a whole, it's a solid crime thriller worthy of a watch (or two), featuring a fine actor and director named Ben Affleck. He deserves your respect. Let's just hope he never becomes a movie star again.
