Following the outstanding direction shown in his two critically praised cinematic releases so far, I believe Ben Affleck has finally found the medium he's most comfortable in. Back in October of 2007, the Chasing Amy star took America by surprise with his dignified directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, a kidnapping crime drama starring his younger brother Casey. Usually known as an actor, Affleck decided to go behind the camera as co-writer and director, going on to receive a hefty amount of well-deserved acclaim for his confident artistic diversion. This time round, he is both the star and the filmmaker of his new flick The Town, but one does wonder if it lives up to his previous effort.
Much like the former of his directorial filmography, The Town is set in the rough and tough streets of Boston, this time in Charlestown. Affleck characterises the setting with a stylish cultural identity of criminality, as we are told that it is a hot-spot for bank heists, producing more robbers and car thieves than anywhere else in the world. I suppose it's a wonderful place to raise your children.
Affleck plays Doug MacRay, a professional Bostonian bank robber who is part of a gang of skillful bandits. In the thrilling opening scene, we watch as they fiercely raid a bank vault's contents wearing skull-like masks, and take the building's manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) as a getaway hostage. They briskly let her go once they have escaped, but are later more than a little freaked out when they find out that the shaken-up lass resides in their neighbourhood.
Fearing that she may be able to identify them to the police, Doug decides to sneakily approach her in a friendly - maybe a little too friendly - manner to find out what she knows. The two instantly connect, their relationship swiftly blossoming into romantic territories, with Claire blissfully unaware that Doug, not too long ago, was pointing a gun at her face.
Meanwhile, FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm), a man of the law who's not afraid to get his hands dirty, is leading the case against Doug and his crew, progressively compiling evidence step by step. With pressure from the aggressive James "Jem" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) and his no-fucking-nonsense-or-I'll-cut-your-balls-off-and-shove-them-down-your-throat boss, Fergie (Peter Postlethwaite), Doug struggles to maintain the relationship with his new girl as he prepares for a final job.
Affleck once again proves himself to be an efficient director, capably handling each intricate action set piece to an astonishing calibre. From the opening bank robbery to an explosive car chase to the climactic public shoot-out, the director shows how an action scene is supposed to be done. There aren't cut-a-millisecond edits, the camera isn't violently trembling, the cinematography isn't over-bombastic; Affleck films them with smoothness and clarity, intertwining a sense of anxiety amongst the air-tearing bullets.
The Town is not an action-packed extravaganza however, with much attention focused on the more emotional aspects of the story; the action scenes are few, but memorable. The film's vault is filled with flawlessly manufactured character interaction, stacked with money-bags of drama all remarkably acted by a stellar cast.
This is one of the best performances I've seen out of Affleck, playing a criminal with a haunting past and a heart partially made of gold. He is the only one of his band of money-hungry crooks to portray actual compassion, as shown in the opening scene where he tells his blindfolded hostage that she's going to be okay and that they're not going to harm her. He's not overly sentimental, however, he has a largely evident rough and rugged side seemingly inherited from his incarcerated father (Chris Cooper).
His relationship with Claire is a realistic one, not constrained by Hollywood formula, but let loose with convincing chemistry and connection. Hall manages to pull off a decent American accent in a somewhat restrained but solid performance as the strong and intelligent Claire.
Stealing the show is Jeremy Renner, who you may remember from last year's Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker. His character is best buds with Doug, but the two are considerably different in nature. Jem is a hot-head, a loose-cannon, a man who goes a little too far once committing acts of violence. Renner has an intimidating presence, his actions unpredictable and his attitude a dangerous one, marking his performance the best of the bunch.
Although the script sounds a smidge clichéd at points, Affleck and co-writer Peter Craig have perfectly balanced the right amount of drama with the right amount of action, crafting a perfectly orchestrated, tense thriller with reminders of Michael Mann's Heat. It's hardboiled, it's gritty and it's heartfelt. And it should be enough for us to forgive Affleck for starring in Gigli.
9/10
I don't think The Town was a good movie, but of all the characters in the film, I found Claire the most annoying of all, and about as dislikeable as Doug MacRay and his band of men who'd robbed her bank at gunpoint and taken her as a hostage afterwards. While the armed bank heist and abduction that followed was certainly not Claire's fault, the fact that she failed to size Doug up when she met him in the laundromat after a stressful situation, her becoming involved in a full-scale romance with Doug, and allowing him to exploit her and subtlely and charmingly warn her not to talk to the Feds, or else, was not smart.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the fact that Claire continued to have contact with Doug when she learned of his professional criminal exploits, lied about her and Doug's relationship and known identify of one of the men to the Feds, and to ultimately abet Doug, an armed felon and wanted fugitive to escape the law by tipping him off to the Feds' presence in her apartment when they were on the verge of nabbing Doug and sending him to jail, was completely and totally wrong, on Claire's part.
I think that Claire should've turned Doug's stolen money that he left for her before he skipped town into the police anonymously instead of keeping it for herself.