Grade: B+
I’ve never been to Boston, so I certainly cannot vouch for how accurate or true-to-life Ben Affleck’s vision of the city’s mean streets is in his latest directorial effort “The Town.”
After thinking about, I also realized that I’d never been to Pandora, yet I never once thought that the world James Cameron created with “Avatar” was any less plausible because of it. So it is with a sense of detached wonder that I marvel at the world Affleck has created, coated with working-class rust that hangs over the film to give it a sense of perpetual, empathetic melancholy.
The titular town here is Charlestown, a one-square-mile stretch of Boston that we’re told via title card is the bank robbing capital of America. And in this world, the robberies do not unfold with a “fun” team of master thieves like in the “Oceans 11” series, but with a sense of anger, of ruthlessness and desperation. Robbery isn’t a crime, it’s a trade passed down from one generation to the next.
Two of these robbers, Doug (Affleck) and Jem (Jeremy Renner) lead their team through the film’s first of many heist sequences, handling the job with urgency and, more clearly, understanding.
The chemistry and disparity between these two characters underscores the entire film. These heists don’t allow Doug and Jem to live the life of luxury; at most, they can get by for a few months without having to work at the stone quarry. It’s a blue-collar job with guns, and Affleck’s skill with demystifying the traditional bank robber mythos is what puts the town so far beyond other heist films in the genre.
After the opening heist, Doug falls in love with Claire (Rebecca Hall), the manager of the bank he and Jem first seized in the film’s opening. The story from that point rarely breaks any new ground. Hall, though, communicates such a subtle sexuality in her performance with Affleck that the two’s romance not only keeps the story moving, but much of their screen time together ends up yielding some of the film’s best scenes.
There’s honesty in their time today. Doug, the blue-collar Bostonian ready to leave Charlestown for good, and Claire, the “tunie” who’s not originally from Charlestown, play off one another’s different lives to create something wholly unique between them.
Amidst all this, there’s FBI agent Adam Frawley, played by Jon Hamm. Hamm is great, and being a fan of his work on “Mad Men,” I can’t say I was disappointed by his performance as the one authority trying to keep Doug and Jem’s kind in line. However, his character is so underwritten and there is no sense of purpose given for why he’s so driven to catch the bank robbing crew.
The overall story goes where you’d expect it, but the way it gets there is what makes it worthwhile. The performances are fantastic, with Renner being a true standout amidst a cast of standouts. His role is hardly original, that of the “crazy” member of the heist crew, but Renner keeps it so grounded in reality, playing more desperate than crazy that one can’t help but sympathize with him even in the midst of some of the more deplorable things he does throughout.
Affleck’s direction keeps the gears turning, the pacing never lets up and the sheer creativity of the heists keeps you guessing how they’ll keep being outdone until the well-worth-it payoff at the film’s conclusion.
Without breaking much ground, “The Town” takes a formula that’s been done a million times, but does it with sincerity and a great cast that make the overall trip well worth your time.
Contact the reporter at vburnton@asu.edu
