Entertaining crime drama

Rating: 8/10 (18 August 2014)

In Boston, a gang of four masked guys rob a bank. The manager is an attractive girl. One of the guys is rather kind to her but takes her after the robbery blindfolded and drops her off somewhere. Behind this group is an Irish florist who finds the jobs and assigns them to these guys.
After the job, the guy, Doug, follows the manager around and invites her for a drink. They become close.
The FBI investigates and quickly discovers the identity of one of them and quickly also discovers the whole crew. But they don't have a case against them. No evidence was left behind. The only information they have is the tattoo that the girl saw on the back of the neck of one of the guys. That would be James, Doug's best friend. James killed someone for Doug and now Doug owes him. He is also involved with James' sister and treats her child as if it were his.
Now that he's met this girl, Doug is getting reluctant to do criminal work. Still, he takes the next job, robbing an armored car. He is worried because one of the guys is ex-military and trained. Still, James keeps the pressure up reminding Doug about the guy he killed for him. So Doug accept. This time around violence ensues. The cops chase them but they manage to escape. The FBI interviews them but lets them go.
Doug tells the florist he's out, no more jobs. But the florist threatens the girl so he accepts one more job. The FBI meanwhile discovers about the relationship between Doug and the girl and they let her know who he really is. The crew robs the vault at a stadium and on their way out they run into heavily armed FBI.
The Town is a strong crime action drama very much in the vein of Heat but set in Charlestown. Doug is the brains of the operation, James the violent one. We learn some background about Doug, his criminal dad and his disappeared mother. All the heists are exciting and well-filmed. Some of the drama and family business is very cliché. This is review based on the short version of the film. Too much attention is placed on Doug, who isn't really all that interesting and doesn't appear to be all that bright either. We learn little about the other two members of the crew nor about the FBI and their investigation. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't go into depth either about what causes Charlestown to be the source of most bank and armored car robbers.