Monster of Green

Rating: 6/10 (19 September 2010)

Greetings again from the darkness. Ben Affleck proved himself to be a talented director with "Gone Baby Gone". Here, he once again shows he is best suited behind the camera. He has a real feel for setting, scenery, actors and camera angles. Unfortunately, this story based on the Chuck Hogan novel "Prince of Thieves" is just a bit too formulaic to stand out from the crowd.
We are told upfront that the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown has more bank robbers than any other ... in fact, in some families it is a proud tradition, passed on to the next generation. Ben Affleck got the guide book from his dad - an incarcerated Chris Cooper who has only one scene, though it's very dramatic. Affleck's lifelong pal and crime partner is played by Jeremy Renner. Renner's character, Jem, is downright psychotic to Affleck's Mr. Sensitive. If after "Hurt Locker" you have a difficult time imagining Renner as a bad guy, you should check out "North Country". That's a very bad man.
As seen in the preview, Affleck's merry band of bank robbers take a hostage played by Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"). Affleck, in the course of duty, falls for Hall. She is the light that shows him the way to a better life. Unfortunately, that story line leads us right back to more crime ... with FBI mad man Jon Hamm hot on the heals of the local bad boys.
The neighborhood crime lord, played superbly by Pete Postlethwaite, controls the every move of the gang and takes his "fair" share while leading through intimidation - all while trimming roses! Renner's sister and Affleck's previous squeeze is played alarmingly (and surprisingly) well by Blake Lively. She appears to have a nice little career ahead of her.
The frustrating thing with this film is that we have seen it all before, just without the heavy bean-town accents. Tons of automatic weaponry lead to very few actual injuries or deaths - always the sign of a cheesy shootout. The finale for Renner, Hall and Affleck are all advertised well in advance of the actual occurrence, which pretty much ends the suspense. On the bright side, the film is well made and entertaining enough. For a much better film on the culture of local/family crime check out "Animal Kingdom".