The Town

Terrific Town Takes Acting – Directing To A Taut Tense Experience
The Town, R, ****1/2, Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Chris Cooper, Pete Postlethwaite. Director – Ben Affleck. Warner Bros. film. Length 124 minutes.

The film begins with the planning of a bank robbery. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is the leader of a band of successful thieves. Their expertise is banks and armored cars. For that matter, it is just about any robbery involving timing, discretion, and success.
The robbery begins, and the gang takes a hostage Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). She is blindfolded and set free shortly after the abduction.
This creates a problem among the gang members. Did she pick up on any clues while in captivity that could jeopardize the entire group?
The film takes place in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Doug and Jem (Jeremy Renner) have been like brothers since childhood. Jem is part of the gang. His character will remind the audience of Joe Pesci’s character, Nicky Santoreo, in “Casino.” Jem is one tough hombre. When Doug asks Jem to help him beat up some guys, Doug tells Jem “that he cannot ask why or ask anymore questions about it.” Jem immediately says, “Whose car to we take.” He seems to live for violence and danger.
The film involves drug use within the neighborhood, and bad guys continuing to live their lives on the wrong side of the law.
My big complaint with the film is the gunfights. They were over-the-top and unrealistic. When an automatic weapon goes on both sides of the target, but the intended person does not get shot, it is unrealistic. The car chases were not that bad, but they become somewhat unbelievable to think the gang can escape so easily. With that aside the overall story, plot, and intense scenes bring this film to a new level. Affleck directed the film, and the pacing was superb. Affleck also directed “Gone Baby Gone’ another excellent outing as a director.
Doug is a bad guy the audience begins to like. Some of the gang is worried about Claire. Does she know enough to convict the group? So Doug decides to spy on Claire. Basically, he does this to keep the wild card Jem from doing so. The reader can probably figure out what happens. The two begin a friendship that becomes more involved with the passing of time.
An FBI agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) interrogates Claire and determines she does not know anything. However, she does remember a tattoo on one of the perpetrators, but she did not mention this. The gang threatened to do her harm and then kill her if she said something that would lead the FBI to them.
As the relationship between Doug and Claire progresses, things become complicated and out of control. The audience will be tense and on edge for most of the film. Yes, the viewers will find themselves rooting for Doug and Claire.
Trying to change ones lifestyle and find happiness will always get sympathy from the audience. It certainly does in this case. The charisma between Doug and Claire projects itself to the minds and emotions of the audience. A seasoned viewer enjoys a film that gets inside the head.
Changing a lifestyle of crime is a difficult thing to do when one has to answer to some very tough hombres who will not adhere to allowing someone to walk away.
The film will remind the audience of the movie “Heat.” This film is worth the drive, admission, and time. Wait for the very final scene.