Dir: Ben Affleck Cast: Ben Affleck, John Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner
The Town
A; DRAMA
Dir: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, John Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner
Rating: ***
What's it about: Based on Chuck Hogan's novel Prince Of Thieves, The Town is Ben Affleck's second directorial venture after the critically acclaimed Gone Baby Gone. This time around, he makes a heist film with cutting edge characters and an intriguing premise that has you arrested from the very opening scene. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) leads a team of bank robbers in a small town whose one mission blows up in their face jeropardising their entire future. His friend Jem (Jeremy Renner) takes the manager (Rebecca Hall) of the bank they robbed hostage, leading to an extremely volatile and uncomfortable situation. Not knowing how to untangle what they've got into, Doug soon falls in love with their hostage putting himself in a difficult spot of choosing between his friends from the past and the prospect of having a brand new start. FBI agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) gets involved vowing to put a noose around the group and get them behind bars. Along the way complications arise, twisting the plot that ends in a big bullet show.u00a0
u00a0
What's hot: With really no expectations, The Town kind of comes out of nowhere pleasantly springing a big surprise. The writers have really taken time and effort to weave delicately intricate nuances in each character that make them worth watching. Be it Renner who never goes all out, but instead uses subtlety to create suspense and uneasiness about himself or Hamm whose screen presence is good enough to make you sit up in awe. You can see how tight the script is when even Blake Lively's blink-and-miss cameo as Jem's serve-it-as-you-see-it sister makes a difference in the story. Through out the film there are enough moments with mystery and tension to keep you busy with what's happening on screen. Affleck succeeds in keeping the pace at an even tempo despite it being a film with more dialogue than action. Car chases, duels between the cops and robbers, and the big bang climax all live up to the build up from the start.
What's not: My problem is with Affleck's highly flawed character. Despite being torn between loyalty to his friends and his love for the hostage girl, we nver see enough turmoil within him that's convincing.u00a0 Also after opening with a bang the proceedings start to drag especially towards the ending. Dialogue is great only when it isn't showy or boisterous for the sake of being written for a cop-robber film. Affleck's change of mind that leads to a life altering repercussion is too mechanical rather than sentimental.u00a0
u00a0
What to do: The Town is engaging enough to keep you entertained. Watch it for some riveting action and interesting twists and turns.
ADVERTISEMENT
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
