Ben Affleck and Matt Damon burst onto the Hollywood scene with an Academy Award nomination and win for their screenplay for Good Will Hunting. In the Boston-set tale, Damon starred as a troubled genius and Affleck played his loyal blue-collar friend. The success of the film skyrocketed both actors uo Hollywood’s A-list and also earned a much-deserved Oscar win for Robin Williams.
After Good Will Hunting, Affleck and Damon took different career paths. Affleck immediately marketed himself for summer blockbusters like Armageddon and Peark Harbor, which were critical duds but box office hits. Damon gravitated towards dramatic roles working with veteran directors in movies such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and Saving Private Ryan. Affleck’s career took a downward spiral as he starred in several dreadful romantic comedies like Gigli and went through a very public romance and breakup with Jennifer Lopez. As Affleck stuggled to be taken seriously as an actor, Damon cemented his status as a leading man in the Jason Bourne franchise. Over the last few years, Affleck took a break and eventually turned his attention toward the director’s chair. He directed his brother Casey and experienced actors like Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris in the quietly devastating Gone Baby Gone. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this article and rent it now. While Damon continues to balance dramatic (Invictus) and action (Green Zone) roles, Affleck gained some of his best critical praise for supporting roles in Hollywoodland and State of Play. Ben Affleck now returns with The Town, out to prove that Gone Baby Gone was no fluke. As director, writer, and star, Affleck has bet big on this film. And I’m proud to say that he delivers a knockout both behind and in front of the screen.
The Plot:
Ben Affleck plays Doug McCray, a bank robber operating in Charlestown, Boston’s breeding ground for lifelong criminals. Doug is the undisputed leader of his crew, composed of three childhood friends. When a robbery escalates, his best friend James “Jem” Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) takes a bank teller named Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage. Although Claire is let go unharmed, Doug’s crew quickly realizes that she lives in Charlestown. When Doug volunteers to investigate if she knows anything, an unexpected relationship develops between the two. As Claire is still unaware that Doug is the same man who tormented her in the robbery, Doug begins to reconsider his path in life, only to find that getting out may be the most difficult job he’s ever planned.
The Review:
The Town is an intense moviegoing experience that is sharply written and superbly cast. First and foremost, Affleck delivered several suspenseful scenes in Gone Baby Gone, but he was more interested in presenting the main character’s moral journey. In The Town, Affleck the director expertly crafts three action set pieces – the opening bank robbery, a chase through narrow Boston streets, and a gun battle inside and outside of Fenway Park. In the opening bank robbery, he cleverly intersperses the action between real time and the mute black and white surveillance camera footage. The chase sequence rivals similar scenes in Ronin and the Bourne films. Although the cliched finale stretches credibility, it still delivers the goods for the action movie crowd.
Affleck the writer really shines in planning the scene between Doug and Claire. Given only a few key scenes to sell the development of their relationship, Affleck blesses himself and his costar with great dialogue in three particular instance. In the laundrymat, the meet-cute between reflects Claire’s emotional baggage and Doug’s tough yet sensitive personality. In the restaurant, Affleck crafts a tense scene involving Doug, Jem, and Claire when she still doesn’t know their true identities. In the coffee shop, Doug expertly explains to Claire how to deal with the FBI. In those scenes, Doug and Claire reminded me of Matt Damon and Minnie Driver’s character in Good Will Hunting.
Lastly, The Town stands tall on the shoulders of a nearly flawless cast. Pete Postelwaite as a local crime boss and Chris Cooper as Doug’s father are predictably solid in their brief screen time. They lend the movie veteran support much in the same way that Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris elevated Affleck’s debut. Newcomer Rebecca Hall excels at selling the emotional scenes, particulary in her bathroom scene with Affleck’s character. The real standout of the movie in without question Jeremy Renner. The Hurt Locker star channels the same level of explosiveness and unpredictability as Jem. Although Doug’s relationship with Claire drives the movie’s plot forward, the friendship between Jem and Doug is the backbone of the movie. Lastly, Ben Affleck the actor has come a long way from yelling for pecan pie in Reindeer Games. Older, grayer, and probably wiser, Affleck shows more about his character through his actions than his words. His jail visit to Chris Cooper and emotional confrontation with Jeremy Renner are highlights of the movie. Ultimately, the success of the movie boils down to the audience believing that his character is worth redeeming, worth saving. In this respect, Affleck delivers perhaps his best performance to date, bringing a likable everyman quality to the main character. The only weak link in the cast is Blake Lively as Doug on-again-off-again girlfriend. The Gossip Girl simply looks out of place and can’t match the dramatic heavylifting of her costars. Don Draper, I mean Jon Hamm, does well with essentially the archetypal tenacious cop role, giving him just enough edge to make an impression. Overall, the incredible performances help make The Town a must-see.
The Bottom Line: If you would mix the bank robberies from Heat, the moral complexity of The Departed, and the romantic storyline from Good Will Hunting in a blender, The Town would be the end result. The transformation of Ben Affleck from fallen A-list star to resurrected everyman actor and gifted director in complete. 9/10
