: The Town
Director: Ben Affleck
The first trailer of this I saw was a bewildering mess. I saw zero that interested me. There was no story, or action, or anything. But then I started hearing the critics raving and then that the public liked it as well (it was the number one movie last weekend). That surprised me, so I watched the trailer. I don’t know if it was different or I just noticed more, but this time I found something intriguing. It wasn’t much: the whole bank robbery aspect seemed to be played down in such a way as to not be intriguing at all. What caught my attention was the subplot of Affleck’s character falling in love with the bank manager he kidnaps during the robbery. He wore a mask so she doesn’t know Ben was one of the gang that robbed her. That sounded fascinating, so I went and saw it today. It turns out to be an excellent film. I had worried that a lot of the Boston stuff would be too alien to me but other than a couple of scenes where I couldn’t understand what heavily accented actors said, that wasn’t an issue at all. The story is really about how hard it is to escape the criminal lifestyle when all your friends and family are trapped in that world. It’s a repeating cycle, with our leading man’s father already in prison and his son following his path. The romance with the girl helps change the man who wants out, but his pals don’t want to let him. He owes them and feels obligated, but being a criminal is going to ruin his life. While the film feels a little long and is sluggish at times, there were some action and chase sequences that I hadn’t expected. I also really liked the way the FBI guy tracking down the gang was presented, showing how he was, in his own way, just as ruthless as them. I really liked the ending, which was realistic and yet did not end the way I anticipated. Overall, an excellent film with solid performances, writing, and directing. I don’t know if it’s a great film — it seems lacking some depth that would take it there — but it’s definitely above average and well worth seeing. A solid B+ in my book.
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