The Town (2010)

best movie i've ever seen.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Fffffvvg gab hb h h h h hhh. Jk. Job bubble hb hhh.

When I had first heard about The Town, I thought it offered something a bit zealous; yet when I actually watched it, I was a little disappointed in that it did not meet the expectations I had for it. This is not to say the film is bad, by no means, but rather I felt it was a little 'half-baked' as a final product or a little rushed. It has been received fairly well among critics and audiences alike so for me to consider this film bad would mean I am contesting the majority of people who did in fact think this was a well-made film. So instead, perhaps this review should begin in this sense: a good film but with some issues - to put it lightly. The plot and narrative of The Town is driven by Douglas "Doug" MacRay played by Ben Affleck who is the 'mastermind' behind a series of bank robberies at which he engages in with his life-long friends. During the course of the film, we get to know Doug as someone who is looking to 'get out' of his current situation and live a normal life. He becomes infatuated with the manager of the bank of his previous heist, Claire Keesey played by Rebecca Hall, and begins his journey out while trying to not do any harm to anyone in his path. On the outset, The Town offers an engaging action-crime film that certainly elevates Ben Affleck as a capable director in this field. Gong Baby Gong, his directional debut, shows he has kept within the safety of the crime genre but The Town delivers the action and demonstrates Affleck is capable of going further. What troubled me is the issue around characterisation. I felt this was poorly executed where Doug's past around his mother, father and his supposed child with his ex-girlfriend simply did not match up and in turn I did not feel I could engage with his character. After a quick conversation with the manager, he sets off to find more about his mother whom was never found when she disappeared. His bad childhood is established but it is not enough to engage and sympathise with a character whose troubled life and bad past is not fulfilled with enough information for the viewer to grasp and hold on to. It almost seems that it was thrown-in as opposed to something that develops and over time naturally in the film world. Instead we learn of his character at random which therefore gives this out-of-place feeling. Besides Doug's character, this issue is also seen with James "Jem" Coughlin played by Jeremy Renner, where when asked why he does not get out of his situation, he replies "This is all i know". I guess the effect of this was a dramatic and emotional one, yet I felt a level of involuntary cringe that immediately prevented me from liking his character further. This is due to this idea that his situation is inescapable and ultimately his ending (as it turns out to be) and foreshadows his death. Maybe I expected the foreshadowing of his death with a little more punch instead of that typical 'all I know' gaff. If we also take a look at Special Agent Adam Frawley played by Jon Hamm, there appears (or perhaps not) to be a rivalry between him and Doug. Little is known about him and his motifs or background; this ultimately, in my opinion, let The Town down when the Agent was clearly an important character in the film. Even the manager's difficultly in coping with the aftermath of her short ordeal is only demonstrated in one scene in the Laundromat; thereafter she appears to have been 'cured' by Ben Affleck's romantic persona - where ever that came from. But why have the characters loosely established? It could be possible that it was intentional; adding to the mysteriousness about Charleston that is further echoed by its residents. But with this, there is a lack of engagement with the characters and thus falls short of being a film worthy of any awards.While I am very critical of the characterisation of The Town, I do not consider it to be a bad film. It delivered the action, the crime and strong narrative that will keep the action-goers happy. Yet the characterisation is rooted with issues that if needed, could be further dismantled and a harsher review would suffice.

I think there's probably a decent action film buried in this really long and ponderous film. As it is, you get some great sequences like an armored car robbery/car chase, but you have to sit through the endless set up of the Charlestown locale, an incredibly implausible relationship drama and a dozen speeches about how Affleck is going to change. Somehow the film never manages to find the time during it's two hour run time to explain how Affleck could plan and execute a robbery of Fenway Park while under constant FBI surveillance.

Riding on the momentum provided by its consistent dose of intensely gripping action, The Town is a tense, thrilling & entertaining crime thriller that, despite leaving none of the genre clichés on the sidelines, succeeds in keeping a firm grip on the viewers' attention and is more engaging than one expects.Set in Charlestown, a breeding ground for armed robbers, the story of The Town follows a gang of four lifelong friends who, after a series of successful bank robberies and close encounters with the police, set out to finish one final heist. But monitoring them closely is an FBI agent who's all set to bring them down.Co-written, directed by & starring Ben Affleck, The Town serves as another vehicle for the actor to showcase his filmmaking talents and there's plenty in the picture that attest to his eye for creating kinetically charged sequences that brim with excitement & tension. Affleck's direction is quite lean during moments of action but not so in the dramatic portions.While Michael Mann's Heat is an obvious inspiration, the overcast ambiance & setting is lifted from other notable crime thrillers. The story is riveting when it's dealing with the group's interactions or next assignments but loses interest whenever it attempts to focus on their separate lives. There's a lot that it could've done without, for those scenes only end up hampering its overall effectiveness.Coming to the performances, The Town packs a talented ensemble in Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, John Hamm, Blake Lively & Pete Postlethwaite, with Renner leaving the most lasting impression of them all with a strong, stellar input. Affleck plays his part responsibly, Hall does well with what she's given, Hamm is just as good while Postlethwaite greatly impresses in his brief part.On an overall scale, The Town is thoroughly captivating, is expertly directed & benefits a lot from Jeremy Renner's show-stealing performance but it could've been much more if its drama was half as compelling as its masterly choreographed action segments. Nevertheless, Affleck's sophomore directorial effort further sharpens his filmmaking skills, has got more positives than negatives, and is going to satisfy most viewers, if not all. Definitely worth a watch.