The Town: Boston must be the most dangerous place on earth.

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2011)

With intense stylized action and a suspenseful pace, "The Town" shows (once again) how gritty and violent life in Boston can be. In Ben Affleck's (Pearl Harbor) first attempt behind the camera, he seems to have struck gold doing what he does best, a film that highlights his home turf. Starring Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Blake Lively (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Affleck himself in the starring role, "The Town" continues the legacy of Boston crime genres. And the end result? Worth seeing, but not quite best picture award winning caliber. In fact, this is the type of movie that may alienate some viewers into thinking that maybe they didn't like it as much because they didn't grow up rooting for the Red Socks.
"The Town" centers around what was said to have been one of the most crime ridden towns in America, Charlestown, Massachusetts. Doug MacRay (Affleck) and James Coughlin (Renner) were childhood friends and, as adults, are now apart of a long legacy of criminals to come out of Charlestown. After one bank robbery, in particular, MacRay becomes infatuated with the bank manager (Hall) and (what do you know) she happens to be the only one who can connect MacRay and Coughlin to the robbery. The one person who can send MacRay and Coughlin to prison for life, but will she do it? Or will love supersede all? Yeah, by the end this movie does get a little too sappy for its own good.
"The Town" is a throw back to the look and feel of movies like "Heat" or "Training Day" (just not as developed as those examples). The problem here, aside from the so-so written script, is that half way through the film the love story between the bank manager and MacRay takes over the story. In saying that, this film is still worth seeing.
The huge buzz around this film may be because this is Affleck's directorial debut (yes, he should have been nominated for best director) and Jon Hamm's feature film debut (who is nothing special here. Do you hear what I said, all you fans of "Mad Men"!?), but Renner and Lively are the real reasons for this films success. Lively gives a performance (as small as it is) that will remind audiences of how multi-faceted of an actress she is. As for Renner, he absolutely out acts everybody on screen. He needs to be nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor. If anything, he is better here than he was in "The Hurt Locker".
Final Thought: This may not be up to par with "The Departed" or movies of its own Bostonian crime genre, but I will say that for its few shortcomings "The Town" is the most underrated film of 2010. Affleck's directing style is that of a seasoned vet. The storyline may have turned from action film to melodrama all too easily for some who expected more action, but don't let that stop you from renting this very good film.
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