A smartly-written, fascinating character study (and good movie) with a few easily-forgiven flaws

Rating: 7/10 (23 September 2010)

A great many people now seem to have forgiven Ben Affleck for not-so-satisfying works from him the past, now that his new film "The Town" (a fascinating, tautly-written character study disguised as a bank heist nail-biter) is out. I am not incredibly familiar with Mr. Affleck's work, but this very enjoyable movie has a parallel for me. Most of it is so good that I can easily forgive the fundamental flaws that it does have.
Ben Affleck is not only the director, but the star of "The Town" in which he plays an experienced, methodical, charismatic (and concerned) bank robber in Charlestown. During one of his heists, things go awry and Affleck and his men must take the bank manager hostage. They escape and release her and later on, concerned that she might have learned something that could sell them to the FBI, Affleck tracks the manage (Rebecca Hall) down and eventually meets her. In the process of deciphering information from her, he also forms a slow but inevitable romantic relationship with his onetime hostage and things take a turn for the worst when the FBI gets involved.
Mr. Affleck is a highly talented filmmaker as well as an actor. Actually, if you were to ask me to list his pros and cons, I'd say he's an even greater director because there is not one single poorly-done moment in "The Town." There are some flaws with the screenplay and some character-to-character relationships, but he is able to command his cameras, cast, and crew with kinetic proficiency while giving a more than commendable performance all at the same time. Mr. Affleck is not yet the masters such as Clint Eastwood, who do the same time, but he is quickly rising to that status.
However, I think some people will be misled by the advertising. This is not really a nail-biter like "The Bourne Identity." It's more of a straightforward, focused character study on our central character. There are obligatory scenes of action, including a very exciting climax at the finale, but it's the human relationships that are the core of the picture. Mr. Affleck is almost always on camera and it is his relationship to the character played by the gorgeous and talented English actress Rebecca Hall that is the most fascinating and compelling element of the entire picture. The scenes between them have so much power, so much fresh dialogue, and so much romantic persuasiveness that it makes up for the lack of real development say between Affleck and his childhood pal played by Jeremy Renner or his boss, played by Pete Postlethwaite. Mr. Affleck and Ms Hall are so perfectly cast for their roles and they do a wonderful job at developing this at-first kinetic and then complicated love affair. I loved and cherished every single minute where these two were on-screen and frankly, I wish there had been more of them because it's between these two characters that we have a solid connection. With the others, it's kind of dicey.
It is because this movie is a character study and that some of the connections between characters is underwritten that I cannot give "The Town" a higher rating and why I think it doesn't realize it's full potential. The friendship between Affleck and Renner shows promise and has originality in its moments, but there are not enough scenes of them together and not enough is learned about Mr. Renner's character to really care what becomes of their friendship. And although Pete Poslethwaite is one of the best actors of modern times, he doesn't have much more to do here than he did in the remake of "Clash of the Titans." I'm sorry to say that he was a rather boring villain, as was the FBI agent played by John Hamm. In addition, I felt Affleck's relationship to a one-time flame played by Blake Lively was fascinating, but underdeveloped and that the sex scene between the two of them, like many, was a complete throw-away.
"The Town" is a very enjoyable movie and I do owe it a lot of gratitude. Because before I saw this picture, I had seen three absolutely detestable movies right in a row, one of which was making me feel abandoned by the cinema and wanting to resort to staying home and watching my old favorites. Thankfully, Mr. Affleck delivered a very well-directed film with mostly hits (and a few misses) in his story and my love for the movies has been restored. The film does have its flaws, but they are easily forgiven and the second hour of the picture strikes with so much kinetic energy and (more importantly) emotion that I instantly and gladly recommend "The Town."