Ben Affleck’s (Gone Baby Gone, Live By Night) The Town was my favorite movie a few years ago. The Revenant has since replaced it, while The Shawshank Redemption will constantly vie for a top spot, but it’ll be a long time before The Town falls out of my Top 10. I’ve watched it three times (once in the theater), and I’ve enjoyed it just a little less with each viewing while appreciating it a little more with those watches. The Town also contains one of my all-time favorite scenes, the finale in Fenway Park depths.
First, this is Jeremy Renner’s (The Hurt Locker, Arrival) best role to date. When I talk about Renner, I mention that while he is good in these movies, and I understand why he is in these movies, we are wasting his talents with the Mission Impossible franchise and his recurring role as Hawkeye in The Avengers movies. He is excellent in those roles, but others could be just as good. I prefer movies like Wind River, Kill the Messenger, and American Hustle. But to do these movies where he (probably) takes a lesser salary, he does need some of these big-budget movies to sustain the lifestyle he wants to achieve.
The Town was Renner’s first role since his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Hurt Locker. He has the same cocky and same swag that he does in that part as he does in The Town. But he takes it to the next level with his nastiness. Renner’s Jem is not a likable character. The film revolves around four lifelong friends from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown, an area of Boston known for its crime. Doug MacRay (Affleck – Argo, The Accountant), Jem (Renner), Gloansy (Gloansy MacGloan – Gone Baby Gone, Killing Them Softly), and Dez (Owen Burke – Black Mass, The Equalizer) who happen to be a successful team of bank robbers. We learn that they rob both banks and trucks and that the FBI is onto them, but they have no proof that the foursome is committing these robberies.
The leader is Doug, and he’s got Gloansy and Dez under control, but it’s Jem who is the constant wildcard. He’s unpredictable. He’s dangerous. He is willing to hurt people when he doesn’t have to, which is something Doug and the others have no intention of doing. The crew runs operations for Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite – Inception, The Constant Gardener), who, for whatever reasons, has a hold on the group. While they are paid well, they cannot walk away from doing jobs. Doug’s crew is among Boston’s smartest, ruthless, and cleanest. But there is a reason they had yet to be caught. This will be one of the most significant conflicts (one of many) in this film.
The first scene is the first bank robbery. It doesn’t exactly go perfectly, and they, for whatever movie reason, decide to take bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall – The Gift, Iron Man 3) as a hostage. They release her unharmed. However, after taking her license, they discover she lives in the same neighborhood. The foursome has no idea what she has seen or heard, and Jem instantly tells the others that they must find out more about her and see what she knows. Fearing his erratic partner in crime will do something drastic to her, Doug convinces Jem that he’ll take care of it, not saying how he’ll take care of it, but knowing that she has to disappear quickly before Jem can find her again. Doug has no plan. And Jem is very, very smart. This will also be one of the most significant conflicts in this film.
They continue to do jobs, and Claire continues to be involved with Doug. The FBI team, headed by Agent Frawley (John Hamm – Baby Driver, Million Dollar Arm), knows Doug and his crew are committing at least some of these robbery jobs in Boston. But he can’t prove it. His team can’t even find a single fingerprint on the getaway vehicles used in the heists. This, too, will turn out to be one of the most significant conflicts in The Town. Yes, there are many conflicts. Yes, they will all get settled. This is a tightly wound ball of string that Affleck continues to tighten so that he gets everything right. Every interaction, every scene, every shot, every sound has to be precisely right so that this thing can whisk you away and make you forget you are watching a movie.
But what The Town fails to do is to establish a team of bank robbers. Yes, we get to know Doug and Jem very well, but Gloansy and Dez are nearly indistinguishable from each other. And while there is some chemistry between Doug and Claire, more is needed. We were supposed to think that these two quickly fell in love and that not even the bank job or a life of crime could get in their way. But that wasn’t presented to us in a way that got us to put our chips all in. Nonetheless, those are a couple of moot points in a movie with a lot going for it. There is so much precision to Affleck’s work as a director in his second time behind the camera (Gone Baby Gone) that we want and do forget about the slight imperfections.
The Town is a fantastic film with a terrific screenplay, an incredible director, and a superb cast. It’s a must-watch and should receive multiple views.
Plot 9.5/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
95%
A+
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