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The Town
Doug MacRay is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage--bank manager, Claire Keesey. Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.Genres: Drama, Romance, Crime/Gangster and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs.
Release Date: September 17th, 2010 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and drug use.
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
| Starring: |
Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner |
| Directed by: |
Ben Affleck |
| Produced by: |
David Crockett, Thomas, Jon Jashni, William Fay, Graham King | |
 Somewhat less generic than its title, “The Town,” directed by Ben Affleck from a script he wrote with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard, is a solid, minor entry in the annals of Boston crime drama. Not as florid as “The Departed” or as sadly soulful as “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” — or even as sticky and gamy as “Gone Baby Gone,” Mr. Affleck’s previous film — it is essential viewing for connoisseurs of dropped r’s, close-cropped hair and aerial views of the city that used to call itself the hub of the universe.
Long ago, in the American popular imagination, Boston was the home of the bean and the cod, a genteel stomping ground of Brahmins and bluestockings and Ivy League nitwits. Nowadays, perhaps owing to tax incentives that encourage local film production, it has become a paradise for dialect coaches and a cinematic stronghold of the kind of white, ethnic, blue-collar tribalism that used to flourish in movies about places like Philadelphia, Chicago and, of course, New York.
 A sober introductory text informs us that one particular area of the city — Charlestown, where tourists can follow the Freedom Trail to the Bunker Hill Monument — is home to more armored car and bank robbers than anywhere else in America. One of them is Doug MacRay (Mr. Affleck), whose crew is first seen knocking over a bank in Cambridge. That sequence, like most of the other action set pieces in the film, is lean, brutal and efficient, and evidence of Mr. Affleck’s skill and self-confidence as a director.
His character is a bit less certain of things. The life of crime is the only one he knows, and he is good at what he does, but there are broad hints — well, O.K., blazing neon signs — that his heart is no longer in it. His father (Chris Cooper), serving a life term in the penitentiary, is not much of a role model, and Doug’s best friend, Jim (Jeremy Renner), who is also a surrogate brother and stickup partner, is not about to let Doug leave. So he goes to A.A. meetings, guiltily sleeps with Jim’s sister (Blake Lively), more out of habit than passion, and dreams of escaping to Florida.
 Further complications arrive in the form of a zealous F.B.I. man (Jon Hamm) and a young woman named Claire (Rebecca Hall), who works at the Cambridge bank and is taken hostage when something goes wrong. The thieves let her go, but Jim gets nervous and wants to take care of her — either scare her or, more likely, kill her before she talks to law enforcement. Instead, Doug says he’ll deal with Claire, but starts dating her, a development that is perhaps meant to heighten the emotional intensity of his predicament but instead disrupts the film’s tough mood with sentimental preposterousness.
Ms. Hall, a subtle actress with an intriguing face, has very little to do, and her character is three different kinds of cipher, lacking sufficient individuality to galvanize the audience’s interest. Claire and Doug’s romance has a hint of class tension — she’s what the locals call a “toonie,” meaning a gentrifying interloper into their tightly-knit bastion — but the film is too cool and procedural to give their relationship any depth of feeling. Similarly, the bond between Doug and Jim, which evokes every volatile old-neighborhood friendship going back to “Mean Streets,” is missing the thick, atavistic texture that would make the drama compelling.
 Interactive Feature Anatomy of a Scene: ‘The Town’.As it is, the performances in “The Town” are strong enough to make it watchable, and the sense of place — of topography and architecture, if not of actual social life — is vivid and enjoyable. A climactic caper at Fenway Park blows holes in the film’s narrative and emotional credibility, but it is fast and exciting all the same, perhaps especially for Yankees fans. Otherwise, the main attraction is the blaring music of those accents. It’s a lark, a spark, a walk in the park.
“The Town” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Everyone’s favorite profanity is used often.
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