The Town (Ben Affleck, 2010)

[Jeff]

Affleck's new heist thriller gets a strong recommendation from me. He has proven to me that the success of Gone Baby Gone wasn't an accident. While this doesn't have nearly the emotional heft of his debut, and there are no Amy Ryan-style knockout performances, it's a lot of fun. Affleck the actor has improved dramatically since his smirky performances in the era immediately following Good Will Hunting, and Jeremy Renner is great. The central romance really strains credulity and seems woefully underdeveloped, but I guess it is all sort of ultimately beside the point. The ending seems a bit too pat (like GBG), and I'm sure the plot wouldn't hold up to much scrutiny, but it's one of the most purely entertaining films I've seen this year. Ben Affleck isn't Stanley Kubrick or John Huston, but he's a skilled director who has captured at least some of the spirit of The Killing and The Asphalt Jungle.

[mfunk9786]

I can't wait to see this: Gone Baby Gone was woefully underrated (good reviews, but no Oscar buzz outside of Ryan and no staying power (go get a used copy for 75 cents on the release week of Affleck's next directorial effort on Half.com! Step right up!) for such a great film. I don't want to live in a world where someone as intelligent as Affleck doesn't get an opportunity to express his talents. I'm glad to see that since no one took him seriously as an actor [as hard as he tried], he decided to try another avenue.

[Joe Buck]

I saw it tonight. I thought it was terrific. Great cast. Well done, Ben!

[Highway 61]

This was a letdown for me after Gone Baby Gone, which I loved. Still, I don't think it's a step back for Affleck. The material he's working with here is as conventional as can be, but his execution of it is first rate. I was particularly impressed that he didn't go Bourne-style with the many action sequences. He makes sure the action is comprehensible and that the audience is always aware of the geography of the scene. Admittedly, the action is straight from the play books of Mann and Frankenheimer, but it's impressive to see that Affleck has the skills to emulate their talents in his first ever action film.

For me, the beauty of Gone Baby Gone was in its melancholic, and yet sweet treatment of urban poverty (as opposed to, say, the political focus of The Wire, or the Oscar-bait sensationalism of Precious). This film largely avoids that, but there are moments in which it appears, and if Affleck could tap into that voice, unimpeded by crime genre conventions, then I think he could produce a real masterpiece.

[cc99999]

For me, the film, although enjoyable, has an inconsistent moral point of view. We clearly sympathise with the thieves- even when they are shooting at and killing the police and fbi agents (which aren't depicted as corrupt or especially ambiguous). Afleck's love interest succombs, perhaps a little too easily to an immoral position by choosing to help Afleck- so long as he is honest with her. Maybe a second viewing would help me reconcile these positions... Otherwise, thrilling with car chases in the French Connection vein.

[Kellen]

I wasn't a huge fan of gone baby gone. I loved the town though, I thought the car chase scenes were awesome. I thought that Robert Elswit did an awesome job shooting the flick. I liked Renner and Hamm a lot in this too. I've never been to Boston or anything so it was pretty cool to see some of the shots and get a feel for the city in a way.

[Professor Wagstaff]

I found this to be a wonderful surprise, if only because Affleck's direction remains clear and focused throughout, an sad rarity in thrillers today. Like Jeff suggested above, I think the movie captures a lot of the spirit from older crime dramas. Surprisingly, for an actor who has come under fire over the years for his smug performances, Affleck again demonstrates a real skill with performers. Everyone is a joy to watch in this film.

[stwrt]

The central romance really strains credulity and seems woefully underdeveloped, but I guess it is all sort of ultimately beside the point.

And yet that appears to be the "point" of why Affleck wanted to make the movie with the heist-stuff thrown into the script so as to get funding. A guy from the wrong side of the Boston tracks gets off with a middle-class girl and his mates try to drag him back in again - sounds like the plot for Good Will Hunting recycled into a crime thriller.

[Cheerupemokid]

The Town was entertaining to me, but I really can't say I loved it. I found the directing to be frankly kind of pedestrian and frankly I'm at a loss over all of the love Affleck has been getting for it. It really doesn't stand out to me at all and if Ben Affleck, the name, wasn't the director, I hardly think I'd remember the name of who directed this.

I also found Affleck to be easily the weakest actor in the bunch. He just didn't come across and genuine to me, which was a problem.

The plot moves and generally things are entertaining, but those two problems for me keep this in the good but not great range.

[A man stayed-put]

The Town was entertaining to me, but I really can't say I loved it. I found the directing to be frankly kind of pedestrian and frankly I'm at a loss over all of the love Affleck has been getting for it. It really doesn't stand out to me at all and if Ben Affleck, the name, wasn't the director, I hardly think I'd remember the name of who directed this.

I also found Affleck to be easily the weakest actor in the bunch. He just didn't come across and genuine to me, which was a problem.

The plot moves and generally things are entertaining, but those two problems for me keep this in the good but not great range.

The direction was the saving grace for me. I felt Affleck managed to lend authenticity to a pretty outlandish story- the Rebecca Hall character made no sense to me from first to last. I find Afflecks style (what there is of it after two pictures) quite refreshing in it's restraint and think Lumet comparisons are somewhat apt.
As an actor he has been fucking awful in a lot but I've always found him far more interesting than Damon who appears to have found acceptance as a leading man through taste in projects rather than any greater ability. I agree that Affleck was the weakest part of the Town but only in comparison to the pretty great cast around him.
I'll be interested to see what he can do outside of Boston set crime pitures.

[Jeff]

The upcoming Blu-ray includes both the theatrical cut and an extended cut, which is 23 minutes longer.

[THX1378]

Finaly got to see this last night. I really like everything up until the end last 15 minutes which changes how the book ended-

SpoilerShow

In the book, Doug knows that he will never be able to get away with Claire, and thinks she is the one that tipped off Frawley about the job, not Krista. Frawley takes James out, after he tries to get away with a bag of the loot and sets off a grenade. Doug makes it to Fergis and kills him, but then is shot by one of guys he saw over at James apartment whom must have been helpping/dealing drugs for Fergis. Doug makes it to Claire's apartment, but is bleeding to death. Frawley follows him there and finds him, telling him that it was Kirsta, not Claire, that set them up. He dies telling her that he wished he could have walked away. The book then goes back to the first job in the movie/book, minutes before they rob Claire's bank.

I had heard a lot about people thinking that it was far fetched, but I didn't know they changed it from the book to the happy

SpoilerShow

He gets away at least in the end ending

I think the book ending fits more and should have been the ending of the film. I also didn't like how they played down how much of a jerk James was. I think it worked better in the book that James was hell bent that Doug was going to stick around and they we're going to be outlaws their whole life.

[flyonthewall2983]

I really like this film, but honestly I found myself fast-forwarding through a lot of the relationship stuff last night. The romance really felt less believable (I reviewed this for Letterboxd and used the term "sitcom logic" to describe how she could possibly have a disconnect from the voice of one of her kidnappers to the new man in her life) and the Blake Lively sub-plot felt like too much melodramatic gaga for me. Watching this post-Gone Girl, and taking into consideration Affleck's shaky relationships with women (loathe as I am to bring up gossipy stuff in a film forum), it's hard not to see past that in how the women are presented here.

SpoilerShow

I don't think the book ending would have felt any less cliche, actually. Not that I think what we got is any less so, but I like how it's pulled off (especially the note left on Hamm's car).