Rating: ****
Since abandoning his supposed career as an action star, Ben Affleck has enjoyed a tremendous creative rejuvenation and critical response where lesser actors might have been taken out with the tide following the type of tabloid scrutiny he received. As a filmmaker, Affleck has shown an affinity for the type of characterization and plot-driven storytelling that is sorely lacking in films like Surviving Christmas, or Paycheck, or Pearl Harbor. Even his acting has gotten better with really good performances in Hollywoodland and State of Play.
But really, Affleck the writer/director is where it’s at these days. His latest, The Town, which is now available in Blu-ray and DVD, isn’t quite as compelling as his last film Gone Baby Gone, but it is a thoroughly involving and well-made heist film. Back in his native Boston, Affleck’s adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s Prince of Thieves is about the villains, dreamers, wise guys, and good guys that populate Boston’s Charleston neighbourhood. A title card at the beginning of the film says that Charlestown churns out a disproportionate number of armed robbers, but that’s only the beginning of the story.
Affleck plays Doug, a Southie criminal that’s not so vaguely dissatisfied with his criminal life, but he finds himself rather indentured to Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite), the local crime boss who Doug’s father worked for before getting sent to prison. While robbing a bank, Doug and his crew take the bank manager hostage and then release her near the shore after they’re sure that they’ve made a clean getaway. The job nearly went south because of Doug’s increasingly impulsive right hand man and best friend James (Jeremy Renner), so Doug begins to interact with the manager, a woman named Claire (Rebecca Hall), initially to find out what she knows, but he soon begins a romantic relationship with her.
Naturally, the local FBI, led by Special Agent Adam Frawley (played with the All-American good looks and square jaw of Jon Hamm), is closing in on Doug and his gang, which only quickens Doug’s desire to abandon his life of crime, and perhaps seek a new life somewhere with Claire. It’s this kind of character drama, rather than action-packed heist theatrics that carries The Town through to an emotionally-charged and intense finale where the outcome is far from certain.
If anything, the action seems almost mitigated and secondary with the focus on Doug’s struggle between his new love with Claire and his desire to get out of South Boston while struggling with loyalty to his crew and the life he’s used to, no matter how dreary, in Charlestown. Affleck is compelling low-key and is convincing as man beaten down by his circumstances. He also gives himself some very good veteran actors to play of off. The proverbial ghost of Doug’s jailed father, as embodied by the great Chris Cooper, throws a long shadow on Doug’s actions through the rest of the film. Postlethwaite is also fantastic, balancing a cold shrewdness and menace as Fergie.
The film also features some acting surprises too. Renner comes across a little too over the top at times. James is a goon, and he’s gradually becoming more ensconced in his gooning as Doug’s desire to leave gets stronger. James spent nine years in jail, and it’s implied that he was, in part, covering for Doug, which aggravates Doug’s guilt further. But from they way James acts and uses emotional blackmail to get Doug to stick around and pull him into one more heist, it’s no wonder that Doug wants to get out of Southie. Another surprise is Blake Lively, who with a convincingly think Boston accent and an emphasis on body language does a lot with the kind of thin role of Doug’s jilted ex-girlfriend Krista.
As I think about it, my preference for Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone comes from the fact that the former is a much tighter, and smaller scale story when compared to The Town. This film has a lot of various plot threads and a rather large web of interconnectivity between various characters, which makes the expanded edition of the film included on a future Blu-ray beneficial. Sometimes brevity and judicious editing are a filmmaker’s friend, but I think The Town would benefit from extra time an the extended cut.
Regardless, The Town stands as a fine film in its own right and as another feather in the Affleck filmmaking cap. The action is well-executed and thrilling, and the character drama is engrossing with mostly excellent performances. And as bonus, it’s all set with the authentic gritty back drop of Boston’s own back streets and back alleys, not to mention the climactic shoot out at “Boston’s Cathedral”, Fenway Park. Affleck definitely shows that he has the chops here, both as an actor and as a director, and the result is a well-made and rewarding film.
