Thematic elements

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2011)

"Charlestown, Massachusetts's reputation as a breeding ground for bank and armored-car robbers is authentic," this quote from Chuck Hogan's novel The Prince of Thieves. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) along with his three friends James "Jim" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert "Gloansy" Magloan (Slaine) and Desmond "Dez" Elden (Owen Burke) pull off a bank robbery in downtown Boston. When the situation gets sticky, Jim takes the bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) hostage. To their surprise, after letting Claire go, they find out she lives in their hometown of Charlestown. As a precaution, Doug befriends her to make sure she doesn't know anything that could incriminate them. However, in doing so Doug falls in love with Claire, and keeps it a secret from the gang. The clock is ticking for them as FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) gets closer to them.
Although action packed, this film demonstrates the complexity of human relationships between friends and lovers. Doug has to make a choice to turn his back on his life of crime and his friends, or his new found love Claire. The pressures build between Jim and Doug when he tells him of his plans. It isn't has easy to get out as Doug thought. Yet to keep the balance between action and drama, the film incorporates thematic techniques such as lighting. In various scenes the characters are having secretive conversation where the lighting is low to enhance the intimacy and dramatic intensity. When Doug is in a room looking into Claire's apartment just before he is about to leave town, the camera zooms in to his and her face. Although it is light out, there are still some shadows around their faces. Their conversation on the phone is dramatic, because the audience knows that Doug can see her, but Claire doesn't. Will she warn him?
The scene at the same time displays symbolism. They want to be together, yet separated by boundaries, the windows. Which signifies the fact that although they want to be together, Doug's life has made it so they cannot. Along with this scene, the title is symbolic. The Town, it is an inner struggle for the main character Doug. Charlestown is where he grew up, where he was from, but it is also his damnation. It is either to be true to his roots, or make a change for the better. Overall, it is a good film that is credible and suspenseful. The use of the thematic elements complemented the plot and enriched the film experience.
-Gladys H.