Entertaining heist flick that wears out its welcome at the denouement

Rating: 6/10 (15 March 2011)

'The Town' refers to 'Charlestown', once a predominantly Irish-Catholic section of Boston known for criminal activity. Crime apparently reached its apotheosis around 1995 in Charlestown when a series of bank robberies were committed. In more recent times, however, the area has become gentrified and probably most of its residents now would express surprise that Charlestown is currently associated with the serious type of crimes depicted in this film. Nonetheless, the filmmakers advise their audience in the trailer that "there are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year" and "most of these professionals live in a 1-square-mile neighborhood called Charlestown." According to Wikipedia, however, there were 23 reported bank robberies in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the first quarter of 2010. So much for verisimilitude!
'The Town' works best when depicting the dark underside of the criminal underclass in Charlestown (albeit, a depiction that is decidedly anachronistic, as discussed above). My favorite character is 'Fergie', played by the late character actor, Pete Postlethwaite. He's a local crime boss who runs a floral shop as a front for his criminal activities. In perhaps the best scene in the film, Fergie confronts Ben Afleck's 'Doug MacRay', insisting that MacRay participate in the next bank robbery he's got planned, despite the fact that MacRay now wants out. MacRay is practically left speechless when Fergie reveals that years ago, he got MacRay's mother hooked on drugs in retaliation for his father wanting to leave Fergie's gang. The kicker is that the mother committed suicide. Fergie ups the stakes (like all good criminals) when he threatens to kill MacRay's girlfriend, Claire, the sweet bank manager turned hostage. Postlethwaite is perfect as the scraggy-faced long-time tough guy who'll stop at nothing to protect his turf.
There are a few other good things about 'The Town' including the excellent performance of Jeremy Renner as 'Jem', Doug's boyhood friend, who's now Doug's right hand man. Renner is utterly believable as the hot-headed psycho who always wants to take things a step further than Doug, his level-headed comrade in crime. There are also a collection of local Boston characters in the form of armored car guards, police officers and Fenway Park workers, who all show up, adding to the foreboding atmosphere. Blake Lively also acquits herself well as the McRay's jealous ex-girlfriend who can't accept the fact that she's the odd woman out. Should I also mention the first two bank robberies are neatly shot and edited and add to the overall fast pace of the film's narrative?
Unfortunately, a good deal of the rest of 'The Town' is typical Hollywood claptrap, which disqualifies it from being in the same league as that old chestnut, the gritty 1970 crime drama shot in the Boston area, 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle'. At the outset, it doesn't make a lot of sense that Jem decides to take Claire hostage as it soon becomes apparent that she lives in the neighborhood and could perhaps identify one (or all of them) as the perpetrators of the bank robbery.
The hostage 'faux pas' is a necessary contrivance in order to allow Doug to hook up with Claire. Many have criticized Affleck's performance, arguing that he seems out of place as a local boy from Charlestown. Maybe so, but Affleck is really saddled by a script that calls for a character working at complete cross purposes. The screenwriters want us to believe that McCray is on one hand, a bit of a psychopath who doesn't hesitate to join his pals in committing bank robberies where people are killed (although McCray insists he never does any killing himself). But when his chivalrous heart is offended after girlfriend Claire informs him some local bully has been harassing her, he has no qualms in breaking into the apartment of the bully in question and beating this guy (along with psycho buddy Jem), to a bloody pulp. As long as he's doing it for 'a good woman', McCray's violent outbursts are 'justified'.
Rebecca Hall is equally saddled by the film's unconvincing script. In one of the worst scenes in the film, when Jem intrudes on Doug and Claire's luncheon date, no bells and whistles go off in Claire's mind after she meets him. It's quite obvious that Jem is not only from 'the other side of the tracks' but is also thoroughly unsavory, and Claire ends up saying nothing to Doug afterward about him. You would think that that it might occur to good girl Claire that Doug's 'buddy' also puts her new boyfriend in a bad light too. The films' scenarists also lose points when they have Claire and the FBI agents standing at an open window where Doug can easily see that they're forcing her to entice him to her apartment. Hey, how about standing inside the living room, away from the window, where Doug can't draw any definitive conclusions as to whether the FBI is at the apartment or not.
'The Town' wears out its welcome completely in the final (third) bank robbery scene. While the first bank robbery was quick and for the most part fairly believable and the second one featured some comic relief with the gang dressed in Nun masks, the third heist appears to be simply derivative. Doug and Jem simply dress up as cops and rob the payroll room at Fenway Park. There is the obligatory shootout, with Jem doing his 'suicide-by-cop' routine. Meanwhile, Special Agent Frawley, stares mindlessly, as Doug makes his getaway in a cop car, right in front of his eyes. In a nod to the 'Shawshank Redemption', all's well that ends well when Claire digs up the stolen cash in her garden and donates it for the renovation of a local kids' hockey rink.
There you have it. 'The Town' manages to entertain in some respects but ultimately must resort to the tired trappings of the heist genre. It's a mixed bag that should at best, engender mixed reviews!