Not as original as you'd think

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2015)

I'd heard plenty about THE TOWN, a film which lifted Ben Affleck from the doldrums and gave him a revamped career of sorts by revealing him to be an efficient director of modern-day thrillers. One reviewer on here even likens him to Scorsese. So what of this Oscar-nominated film, and will it really stand up to scrutiny? The answer is no, not really. THE TOWN turns out to be a very familiar and ordinary type of thriller that comes across as a Boston-set rip-off of Michael Mann's HEAT. Once again we follow the predictable story of a gang of bank robbers, with the running time split between their lives and loves and the actual heist scenes.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike this film. I particularly enjoyed Affleck's direction in the action scenes, which are vibrant, gritty, and exciting (even if the whole clichéd blue tint look of the cinematography spoils things a bit). There's a top-notch car chase and some quite wonderfully hard-hitting scenes at the (again, predictable) climax. It's the stuff in between the action where this film falls down.
To put it bluntly, THE TOWN is overlong and features characters who aren't particularly interesting. The likes of Affleck and Jeremy Renner are defined by their actions, so watching them sitting around chatting is pretty dull. The romantic scenes are even worse, even if Rebecca Hall does a good job. And the whole sub-plot with Jon Hamm's FBI guy is unnecessary, feeling tacked on and dragging the pace down still further. THE TOWN is a fun thriller, but nothing special.