Robbing A Shrine

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2011)

In The Town Ben Affleck got to do another big screen tribute to his home town of Boston and even better got to shoot a good deal of this film at his beloved Fenway Park. Directing, writing, and starring in The Town who could ask for more except to shoot the film in places that I'm sure meant a good deal to him personally.
But The Town isn't some hazy nostalgic type movie, not by any means. It's a hard hitting crime drama about the lives of a heist crew and what it took for the FBI to bring them down.
The Town is brutally realistic in its depiction of these robbers who grew up in the tough neighborhood of Charlestown where people enter the trade of thievery from generation to generation. Ben Affleck is such a person whose father Chris Cooper is currently doing a life sentence for a robbery that was planned by neighborhood crime boss Pete Postlethewaite from his florist shop. Pete's character must have been steeped in crime lore and took as his model that other noted florist of Irish descent who also ran a crime organization, Dion O'Bannion.
At their latest robbery where the crew is completely masked, a hostage they took and released after safely getting away was seen talking to the FBI in the person of agent Jon Hamm who has made it his life's crusade to take this bunch down. They took her driver's license and note that Rebecca Hall is from The Town. Just to make sure she isn't telling anything that could lead to their arrest, Affleck arranges an accidental meeting with Hall. Even though he's already involved with Blake Lively sister of friend Jeremy Renner and fellow crew member, Affleck and Hall start getting involved to the surprise of Affleck.
The Town as elements of classic films like White Heat and The Asphalt Jungle and what I like about it is like The Asphalt Jungle, director Affleck got some well rounded, three dimensional portraits of his characters without sacrificing either suspense or action. Jeremy Renner who is up for Best Supporting Actor is great as the best friend and fellow crew member who is determined not to go back to prison for life as he's already a two time loser. Postlethwaite is as lethal as Dion O'Bannion was and in his own scene with Affleck visiting him in prison Chris Cooper is unforgettable. Cooper is one of the best actors we have currently, I've never seen him bad in anything he does and The Town is no exception.
The climax involved the gang pulling a heist on that noted Boston shrine Fenway Park. That's almost sacrilege in Boston, but this is one nervy crew of professionals. And the FBI is not stupid either. The climax should satisfy any action fan.
I really recommend seeing The Town which is a film that succeeds on numerous levels and can be enjoyed by all kinds of film fans with all kinds of taste.