Review of The Town (2010) by Jaxsem — 16 Sep 2010

It takes place in the city of Charlestown, MA, where apparently there are a mass amount of bank and armor car robberies. Ben Affleck plays Doug MacRay, the leader of a crew which robs said banks and armor cars.

In this team includes Jem Coughlin, played by Jeremy Renner (who has a great performance in this movie), and two others (who are pretty much no names in Hollywood), and each of them are just as bad ass as MacRay.

The opening scene has the team robbing a bank, while they wear Grim Reaper-like masks, and we get introduce to our leading lady Claire Keesey, played by Rebecca Hall. The robbers go through this entire bank with precision and grace that it looks almost like an art.

However, the silent alarm is tripped and they end up taking Claire as a hostage, just in case. When the close is clear, they drop her off unharmed and the FBI immediately ask her what she knows. With the possible risk of her identifying the culprits, MacRay takes it upon himself to check on her and see if shes going to talk, but by doing this leads to an unforeseen relationship between the two.

This is the first movie directed by Affleck I've seen (haven't gotten around to Gone Baby Gone), and I'm impressed on his work. People often comment on his acting ability but as for his directing, it's top notch.

The movie has the intense feel of a crime thriller and makes you care a little bit for Affleck's character, who is just trying to get out of the heist game and make a life thats better than this. Not only is Affleck on par with the movie, but the rest of the cast is great as well.

Jeremy Renner gives a great performance as Affleck's best friend/partner in crime and Rebecca Hall is a great leading lady. Even Chris Cooper, who plays Doug's father is good for the short time he has on screen.

The camera work could of used slight improvement, because it does the "shaky camera" technique, and often gives me a headache. The other thing I guess I have a problem with is Affleck as the lead.

It kinda seems like an ego trip for the director to be also one of the lead stars, but most actors/actresses are starting to direct and put themselves in their own movies, and it works occasionally , and this is one of those times where it does work.