classy crime thriller

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2011)

Following Gone. Baby Gone, the re-invention of Ben Affleck continues apace with this highly satisfying crime thriller set in and encapsulating the Boston neighbourhood of Charlestown. Affleck is Doug, the hood with a heart of gold, the brains of a crew that includes loose canon James. When he falls for a bank clerk from one of his raids, and then inserts himself in her day-to-day life, the consequences prove lethal.
The plot complicates and unravels deliciously, but it is the characters and their intertwining neuroses that keep your attention here. Doug is cut from the same cloth as De Niro's character in Heat, a man whose moral compass is askew with regard to social mores, but rigid within the terms of his own world. James, on the other hand, is Begbie from Trainspotting, or Edward Norton in Rounders, a walking liability whose moral code, if he has one, is known only to himself. The Town may lack originality, but it pays off in spades in terms of genre expectation. Doug's motivations are tied up with not wanting to be his Dad (the ever-competent Chris Cooper), fretting about abandonment by Mum at the age of six, and carrying the regret of failing to be a contender when pro ice hockey gave him a shot.
Love interest Clare (Rebecca Hall) has family ghosts of hero own to deal with. Doug and Clare meet across the soiled socks in the laundromat, a low-key affecting scene that Affleck controls with aplomb. The critics who in recent years called him washed up as an actor must be hiding behind the couch.
The only wobble is Pete Postlehwaite as the local crime kingpin, in his ultimate role, oozing his usual visual charisma but making an unfortunate accent choice. The mother storyline, also, resolves in a manner you will see coming from miles away.
The Boston locality is utilized evocatively, and the whole thing moves along with pace and verve. Affleck has proved himself an astute filmmaker in recent years. Good to have him back.