Explosions and gun-fire aplenty

Rating: 5/10 (2 March 2012)

I found this move to be a pastiche. It starts as a crime caper – bank robbers in Boston who grew up in the slums. At the beginning we witness one such robbery where they abduct a female bank employee, Claire (Rebecca Hall), and eventually release her.
The robbers are worried that she may be able to identify them – so this falls to Doug (played by Ben Affleck) to determine how much Claire knows. He does more than this and they start to be attracted to each other and we have a romance developing. So far OK - the dialogue is well done and this all seems credible. One of Doug's partners, James (Jeremy Renner), comes to be aware of this budding romance and expresses concern – one of the "townies" going out with a yuppie-uppity is disconcerting – besides she was the kidnap victim in their robbery. James witnesses the happy couple in a bistro (as opposed to a "townie bar") – and there is a confrontation between the two crooks after Claire leaves; that again is well done. Also Claire is providing evidence to the police, who have launched a full-scale investigation of the robbery. Claire is unwittingly in a conundrum so the tension starts to mount.
What ruined this movie for me are the two high-powered shoot-outs – one in the middle of the movie, and the other at the end – both are a cataclysm of gunfire, cars overturning and/or shot to pieces. I am sure more ammo was exchanged than in a typical day in Afghanistan. It was just out of proportion to the rest of the movie. The movie was gritty and approaching realism- but then Hollywood stepped in and said lets get some explosions and shoot-outs – and away we go. Sometimes all the noise and fine weaponry can be enthralling, but please save it for the appropriate movie.