Almost really good

Rating: 7/10 (20 September 2010)

Ben Affleck's sophomore attempt at directing is solid. The characters are examined and expanded upon from beginning to end giving the audience a reason to care for the outcome, unlike many action movies these days. but wait, is it an action movie? This question is pondered the entire film. Is it a drama or an action film? Many times these can never both be true, at least successfully. Affleck, who focused on the pure authenticity of Boston in "Gone, Baby, Gone", seemed to have been confused by this same question. For the first hour and a half the film is shot as a realistic, no bull crap story, not to the same extent as "GBG" but still. Yet as we reach the climax it completely switches gears leaving the audience puzzled and unsure.It loses all the this-is-really-happening emotions and instead strives for this-is-pretty-cool.
If Affleck, who also co-wrote it, had stuck with the this-is-really-happening feel, and lost all the poorly aimed gun battles then it'd be an 8. But despite the acting quality, especially of Jeremy Renner, and the sheer beauty of the direction, it is lost in the ongoing battle of action vs. drama.