The Town

Director/star Ben Affleck's 2010 THE TOWN is a respectable, at times impressive Boston-based crime drama that most impressed me with a printed statement preceding the end credits:

Charlestown's reputation as a breeding ground for armed robbers

is authentic. However, this film all but ignores the great majority

of the residents of Charlestown, past and present, who are the

same good and true people found most anywhere. This film is dedicated to them.

Such an acknowledgment reveals Affleck's appreciation to a specific section of his hometown and his desire to be accurate yet fair in his art. Many have attested to this film's authenticity. THE TOWN is not a nuts and bolts classic like an earlier Beantown saga, THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, but it is no less urgent in its ultimate Greek Tragedy.

Doug (Affleck), "Jem" (Jeremy Renner, Oscar nominated), and 2 other childhood pals work for local crime lord "Fergie" (Pete Postlewaite), pulling increasingly treacherous bank robberies around Boston. THE TOWN opens with the quartet clad in skeleton masks, grabbing and blindfolding a bank manager, Claire (Rebbeca Hall) as hostage, but not before she sees a tattoo on "Jem's" neck. She is pushed into a getaway van and eventually told to keep walking until her toes hit water. She relays later, in a nicely effective scene, that it was the longest walk she ever took.

While the criminals did heist another considerable sum of cash, in the aftermath everyone is at each other's throats over the way it went down; hostages are not part of the usual blueprint. It is a loose end, and Doug (the only one of the robbers who was kind to their victim) volunteers to correct the situation by befriending and eventually eliminating Claire. If you've seen more than 3 movies, you can guess what happens next. Those movies, by the way, need not be HEAT or THE DEPARTED, both of which obviously heavily influenced THE TOWN.

Meanwhile, Federal Agents led by Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) interrogate the hell out of the four gang members and Claire at various times. All are tight lipped, even after Frawley delivers a frightening prediction to Doug of his certain jailhouse future (and for his currently incarcerated, career criminal father played by Chris Cooper). This speech reminded me of Robert Prosky's nasty dressdown of James Caan in THIEF, another film evoked by Affleck's. Frawley soon figures out Doug's plan but gets to Claire first. A climatic job attempted in the bowels of Fenway Park seals the fate of every character.

The plotline of THE TOWN may be familiar, but the vivid local color and strength of the performances make this film a worthwhile few hours. Affleck's and Renner's scenes together are almost as kinetic as the exciting and brutal action sequences. Attention is paid to the sort of unspoken cues and codes among criminals, friends, the law. Postlewaite, in his final screen appearance, is intuitive and solid as always in his kingpin role, a neighborhood tough who's owned these kids since they could crawl. His performance is seemingly effortless and perfect as the ice cold OG who masterminds each heist while running an innocuous flower shop. This idea dates back to an episode of Dragnet where a narcotics dealer is just as meticulous with his greenhouse orchids as he is with his heroin factory.

This is the first of Affleck's directorial efforts I've seen. His style is direct and unpretentious. Maybe not as inspired as the other films I referenced, but THE TOWN is solid entertainment. I'm just still wondering though why everyone in movies like this wants to escape to Florida, for Pete's sake. Maybe I need to survive a Massachusetts winter to get my answer.