Review of The Town (2010) by Jeffrey G — 13 Aug 2012
It's a perfectly serviceable and really enjoyable heist film; the PERFECT tonic to wash the taste of "Takers" out of my mouth. Ben Affleck proves that he actually CAN direct--especially when it comes to working with actors. I was happily surprised by Blake "Gossip Girl" Lively and Renner is always fun to watch--although he's miles away from the genius of his performance in "The Hurt Locker". The cast is uniformly solid, and I won't lie--Jon Hamm is a DAMN fine-looking man; the PERFECT tonic for having to listen to how "hot" those little boys named Lautner and Bieber are.
Having said all of that, let me say this: any kind of "Best Picture" buzz for this film is pure nonsense and wouldn't exist in ANY sense if the Academy hadn't widened the field to 10 films. There is NOTHING original or groundbreaking in this 100% formula, paint-by-the-numbers heist picture. It's "Heat", without: the emotional weight of performances by Pacino and DeNiro; the action stylings of Mann's experience and feel for this sort of picture; the gravitas of a supporting cast including Tom Noonan and Jon Voight...the list goes on. It's a fun movie, an enjoyable movie, a step (or four) in the right direction for Affleck...but anything more than that, it is not.
In related news...this film was shot by Elswit? Really? Man, what a waste of his genius for light ans shadow, black and white. Just saying.
But, really. Do go see it.
This review of The Town (2010) was written by Jeffrey G on 13 Aug 2012.
The Town has generally received very positive reviews.
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