It's worth visiting.By John DeSando, "It's Movie Time," "Cinema Classics," and "On the Marquee
In director/star Ben Affleck's The Town, there are too many rounds of assault rifles and too much mumbling among the hardened criminals of Charlestown, Mass., where he grew up. But then there's much to like?the occasional joke and the infrequent but authentic romantic moments as well as realistic ones between old friends who are deeply involved in heists.
Doug (Affleck) and Jem (Jeremy Renner), best friends from youth, head a small gang of bank robbers, who are methodical but suffer from conventional weaknesses such as hot heads and women, in this case the bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), whom they must abduct and Affleck must eventually love.
Jem is the out-of-control sidekick to the more sensitive Doug (about his dad crying at his mother's departure, Doug says, "I'd never heard a man cry before"). Both hoodlums are a modern day Butch and Sundance with swagger and recklessness but missing the sense of purpose those two cowboy heroes had. Bonnie and Clyde are closer.
Surprisingly for a heist film, the romance is natural, as mixed up as it should be with Doug stalking Claire while loving her. He pleads, "Ask me anything you want." "I won't believe you," she says. It's tough in Charlestown. No formulaic ending for them either, although the twist has been done before as well.
Charlestown is lovingly photographed, accents are thick, and most everyone is stuck in this notorious crime town (although I worked in Dorchester, I never dared to go to Charlestown). Heists in film have become formulaic?Affleck puts some new humanity in that mix. The Town is his second serious directorial outing (Gone Baby Gone is his first), and it's much better in almost every way.
Given that he does so well in front of the camera, too, I predict he'll be entertainment busy for decades to come.
John DeSando co-hosts It's Movie Time, Cinema Classics, and On the Marquee for WCBE 90.5. The shows can be heard streaming at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/ppr/index.shtml and on demand at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/arts.artsmain Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com