The Town Proves Affleck is a Force to be Reckoned With

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2010)

The crime drama The Town is directed by Ben Affleck and stars Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner. The film takes place in modern day Charlestown, Massachusetts.
The film starts off with four men preparing to rob a bank and they are lead by Doug MacRay (Affleck). They quickly take all the money and leave all the tracers behind and do a nice and easy job. Then the group takes the bank manager, Claire Keesey (Hall), hostage and bring her into their van. Then they drop her off at a beach and drive away. Afterwards the group discovers that the FBI is searching for them and have contacted Claire. So Doug follows Claire and then eventually talks to her at a Laundromat. They soon develop a romantic relationship. The rest of the film follows how the group does more bank robberies, while the FBI is trying to catch them and Doug and Claire's relationship gets more complex.
The screenplay for this film was very good. It was constantly entertaining and was extremely realistic. There was not one point in this film where I said ooh that would never happen, they just did it to build up the drama. All the characters had quite a bit of depth to them and were all pretty relatable. One could say that Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm's characters were stock characters but then again there are plenty of people like them. I was not a giant fan of the ending but I was satisfied with it. Also I enjoyed how there were so many bits of comic relief in here that just made it seem even more realistic.
Ben Affleck has been called the new Clint Eastwood, and to tell you the truth I think he might just be. Obviously it is not yet proved since he has only directed two films, but both of them are superb. Affleck got many memorable performances from his cast, even though he was busy being a member of the cast as well. Also Affleck had many complex shots that built up the tension. One of my favorite sequences in the film is with the group of robbers in the nun outfit and the police officer who sees them. I won't give away what happens but it was filmed brilliantly.
The acting in this film was great by almost everyone in the whole cast. Ben Affleck delivered his best performance yet in my opinion as the troubled bank robber who wants to end his ways and live a simple, happy life. The reason he probably gave such a brilliant performance was because he directed and co wrote the film so he knew exactly what he wanted. Rebecca Hall was also great as the bank manager who has a relationship with Doug. She was just a normal girl but was just so likable because of her innocence, I may say this is my favorite role of hers as well even though I haven't seen much of her work. Jeremy Renner gives another great performance as the on edge bank robber. Even though his character is a stock character in a way he just played the part perfectly. I can't say the same for Jon Hamm though because I think he just played the role as lead detective like any actor would. He did not add a sense of realism to his role. Blake Lively had a small part of the drug addicted sister of Jeremy Renner's character and gave a solid performance as well proving that she can be a serious actress. Chris Cooper is always great even though he was only in the film for one scene being Doug's father.
Overall I give this film a strong 8/10. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a smart crime drama. I am also proud to say that this is my favorite film of the year so far. I know what many of you are saying when you read this, what about Inception and Toy Story 3? Well to that I say neither of those films seems as real and full of emotion as this one. Yes, they are both fine films but this one is just more to my liking. I understand why the rest of you would like the other two better but the more I think about those two the more I dislike them even though I still do like them. Watch this film, it is the best bank robbery film in years.