The Restoration of Ben Affleck.

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2010)

More often than not, an actor in Hollywood will experience severe disability in terms of being able to choose scripts and quality movies. Ben Affleck has suffered from such a problem, taking the easy road during the middle period of his career in such clunkers as Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and Gigli. Yet, he has begun a turnaround with a solid role in Hollywoodland and his directing debut in the vastly underrated Gone Baby Gone. Now he's at it again, taking the same type of material he used in that 2007 film and focusing on the nature of bank robberies in a small suburb of Boston.
In stretching his limits and going beyond his previous work, Affleck takes on the role of director, co-writer and lead actor here and does great work in all three. His acting has been criticized in the past for his lack of toughness and seemingly automatic ability to cry. Yet, here, he holds back much of the melodramatic emotion and lets his expressive face do more of the acting. For that reason alone, he gives perhaps his best performance. It also helps that he's working with great actors here; Jeremy Renner gives another memorable performance as a trigger-happy childhood friend of Affleck's willing to go to any length in a robbery to provide for his family. Jon Hamm is solid as the FBI agent right on the robbers' trail and Rebecca Hall deserves more buzz than she will get for this role as Claire, a bank manager taken hostage by Affleck's crew only to start a relationship with him.
My main problem with this film was the casting of Blake Lively as Renner's younger sister, Krista, a single mother drug dealer and former lover of Affleck's. Lively, as beautiful as she is, gives a very melodramatic and seemingly amateurish performance; at times she is barely discernible. In truth, she is out of depth with nearly all these actors and comparing her to Hall just blows her out of the water. Still, the great Chris Cooper comes to save the day in just one powerful scene as Affleck's father. Perhaps the key scene, it explores family memories, regret and motivation all at the same time. It is scenes like this that prove Affleck's growing ability as a director.
As for the film overall, it's very good but not great. I would hesitate to call it one of the best of 2010 only because we've seen this story before in better films like The Departed. Still, the quiet scenes are moving and poignant, the action sequences are startlingly violent and gripping and the final scene is one of great nostalgia and emotional depth. The most gratifying thing to come out of The Town is the fact that Ben Affleck is back in a big way. This film and Gone Baby Gone prove he's no longer that arrogant punk in Gigli or Pearl Harbor. Here, he's a man proved, tough and worthy. I certainly look forward to his next work as a director; his future is bright in all aspects.