Ben Affleck used to be considered a bad actor, forever trying to escape the shadow of his Good Will Hunting co-star/writer, but now he seems to have found his calling as a director. He has directed two critically acclaimed feature films, Gone Baby Gone and The Town, and is regaining the respectability he once had in Hollywood. I'm glad to see Affleck finally find a place he can succeed critically in the business he loves and create quality entertainment. As a director, Affleck brings years of insider knowledge of the film industry and a knowledge of how to craft a story and give direction to actors that comes from a place of experience. I have to imagine that some of it has to be from learning from mistakes, but hey, success is success.
In The Town, Affleck not only directs, but he also plays the main character, Doug MacRay, the leader of a team of bank robbers from Charlestown, an area of Boston that has produced more bank robbers than anyplace in the country. While Doug and his team are robbing a bank, the situation forces them to take a hostage, the bank's assistant manager Claire (Rebecca Hall). They release her, unharmed, but it turns out that Claire lives in Charlestown and might see a member of MacRay's squad on street. Even though they all wore masks during the robbery and she couldn't recognize any of them, one member of the team, Jem (Jeremy Renner), becomes paranoid about this and wants to keep an eye on her to gauge her cooperation with the FBI. While tailing her, Doug talks with her and they end up going out for drinks and end up dating. Meanwhile, Jon Hamm leads an FBI team to solve the string of bank robberies that MacRay's team has committed. Later in the film, MacRay's team knock over an armored car, but things don't go as smoothly as anticipated and the heat is on. While the FBI can't prove anything, they know MacRay and company is behind everything.
There are scenes in this film that are so full of tension that it's sometimes to much to bear. One scene in particular where Doug and Claire are on a lunch date and they are unexpectedly joined by Jem. Claire has told Doug that she saw the tattoo on the back of Jem's neck, and if she were to see it, everything would be lost for Doug, not only would he go to jail, but he would also lose his relationship with Claire. We as an audience want Jem to leave as much as Doug does, and when he doesn't the knowledge that one glance can ruin everything for our protagonist raises the tension to incredible heights. This tension, however is managed very well by the actors. Affleck isn't anything special, but he does do an adequate job, perhaps he was distracted by his directing duties. Renner and Hamm are the real highlights in terms of acting. Renner's Jem is a loose cannon that adds an element of unpredictability to every scene, and Hamm is Don Draper at his man-on-a-mission best. The shoot-outs and chase scenes aren't all that they could be, although I do enjoy car chases that involve minivans if only for the incongruous visuals it creates. However, I am of the opinion that experienced gunmen shooting fully automatic firearms within a block's distance of each other will cause a lot of people to get hurt or killed. Unfortunately for the film it becomes clear early on that people in this movie are only going to get hit by a bullet if the script calls for it, and this takes away much of the drama the shootout scenes are trying to create. This is a good movie, it's full of quality actors, and it's written and directed very well. However, for an action movie, it's disappointing when the best scenes are just of people talking to each other.
Rating: 8/10 - Saintly
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