Ben Affleck CAN direct

Rating: 7/10 (13 September 2010)

Ben Affleck has proved he is good at directing movies. That's not to say this was a mindblowing movie, it was a very competent, well acted, well directed movie with some humor at moments and some intense action sequences.
The movie follows Doug MacRay, a bank robber who pursues a woman he and his crew had just abducted to try and befriend her. Relationships get complicated and the usual drama follows. Ben Affleck can be surprisingly affecting in his roles - he is a rather likable character despite being a crook. His other crew are not so memorable - Jeremy Renner is an interesting portrait, but not something we have not seen before. He is the typical bad ass who eventually steps beyond his bounds. Honestly, I don't even remember or care about the other two guys.
The woman, played by Rebecca Hall, does a solid job as Claire Keesey. We see her hardships, her torment and anguish (albeit a bit too much). The chemistry between her and Affleck is not really there, but hey, it's basically an action movie. Blake Lively seems out of place as MacRay's former lover. Jon Hamm plays a standard role as the hard driving cop who will stop at nothing. And Affleck's bosses are funny but not really memorable.
Affleck also directed The Town, and he seem to has a thing for the action camera. Most action sequences are fast paced and suspenseful (though EVERY bank heist reminds me of The Dark Knight, but that's just my geeky self). A problem I had with the heists was similar to what a friend pointed out: the robbers prepared hardcore for each heist, with huge guns and armor. My question is: why? Heists are supposed to be quiet, usually, and guns are used for crowd control and backup. EVERY heist in this movie went a little bit wrong. These crooks are either real amateurs or they suck at their jobs.
The plot was stretched a bit thin, and some of the motivations of the characters baffled me a bit. Some things were just unclear with the characters, and a lot of loose ends were not tied up. However, it's not really a big deal to me, as I enjoyed watching it and I took it for what it was: an action film with a little heart.
I saw this at a free screening: I'm not sure if I'd pay to see it. It's pretty standard fare; however, it's rather well-directed standard fare, if that makes any sense.
7/10