Really Great and Complex

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2013)

The Town refers to Charlestown, Massachusetts; a poor Irish neighborhood on the outskirts of Boston - its claim to fame, spawning more bank robbers than any place else in America. Doug MacRay (Affleck) and Jem (Jeremy Renner) are the new robbery kings in Boston; childhood friends who grew up in criminal families, they run an elite heist crew for the local crime boss and florist, Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite). Their string of flawless robberies runs into a hitch when Jem kidnaps a beautiful bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall). They release her. But soon come to realize she lives four blocks away from them and is talking to the FBI (John Hamm). Doug's decision to check her out leads to a foolish and dangerous romance. She awakens in him the desire for a life without crime and violence, but Doug's world is not one you can simply walk away from.
What makes The Town so interesting is the authenticity of the characters. Affleck has stuck to what he knows in his previous films and takes that to a pinnacle here. The neighborhood, its people, they are so genuine. I didn't recognize Blake Lively as Jem's drug-addicted, single mother sister. The accents, the dialogue, swagger, it's as real as it gets. So when the character conflicts begin to emerge, the doomsday events that unfold have weight to the audience. This is a fine ensemble cast, but the specificity of the performances seems like marionette strings being pulled by Affleck. As the lead actor and director, you can see him shaping these performances into precise delivery on screen.
The action scenes are slick and well paced, but not set up to add a bang to the script every ten pages. These are criminal acts for money, dangerous activities driven by a ruthless man. You'd have to be crazy to attempt any of this stuff. This point is hammered in. Doug has lived on the edge of the knife for so long, resigned himself to the fate of a criminal, that when Claire opens up the possibility for a different life; it is truly an epiphany. It's easy to have a death wish when there's nothing to live for.