Not good as "Gone Baby Gone" but still a solid movie

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2011)

This film is basically a heist movie with romantic elements in it. This movie proves once again that Ben Affleck has more potential of directing movies than acting in one, he plays the main character in this but he is alright. Although most of the movies he starred in sort of sucked, Ben has a bit of talent for directing. I also enjoyed his past movie "Gone Baby Gone" which he directed and I enjoyed watching this movie as well, although I liked "Gone Baby Gone" more better. Mainly because it just had a tighter script and more original compared to this movie. The movie basically takes place in a town that is known for breeding bank robbers, and some are forced into it. But during one of the bank robbery, Ben Affleck's character Doug MacRay and his crew take a girl hostage. And later ends up falling for her while trying to spy on her cause the crew lives close by where she lives and maybe a threat to them. Now this plays a part in the story but the whole film doesn't necessarily revolve around this scenario, which is a good thing. Jeremy Renner did a great job in this movie as the loose cannon style of criminal who is also part of the crew. Jon Hamm also did a fabulous job of playing the rough and tough FBI, who play hard since the criminals play hard. Blake Lively was just hot in this, her acting is alright and that is all I can say for her. This is a pretty solid movie, nothing really refreshing or original but the script is still pretty good and I liked the direction and style of it all. The acting is superb and the cinematography is pretty good and has a bit of the "Heat" and "Mystic River" vibe to it. Oh and the chase scenes and the shoot outs is just amazing to watch, there is some parts that seem to drag a bit but that is about it.
7.9/10