Academy Award winning screenwriter and actor Ben Affleck is usually known for movies in which he plays the best friend or the “good guy.” But in the crime thriller “The Town,” Affleck directs himself in the role of sympathetic, smart criminal, Doug MacRay who wants to change his life.
“The Town” is set in Charlestown, Mass., a working-class, Irish-Boston neighborhood. The film’s beginning tagline identifies Charlestown as being a “breeding town for robbers and armored-car thieves” and that it’s known as the “bank robbery capital of the world.” The movie attempts to tell the audience that despite the robbery problem in Charlestown, it’s still a nice place to live.
Doug is the ring leader behind a group of armed bandits. Although his loyalty lies with his close friends, he is ready to give up his life of crime for good—after one final heist. At the beginning of the film, Doug and his three friends set out to rob an armored car and neighborhood bank. In the midst of the robbery, they take Claire (played by Rebecca Hall), the bank manager, hostage. Although kidnapping Claire wasn’t part of their original plan, they let her go, unharmed.
The FBI bank-job task force, specifically no-nonsense Special Agent Adam Frawley (played by Jon Hamm), is having a tough time finding suspects. He attempts to get information from the sole witness, Claire, who is hesitant to cooperate with Agent Frawley because she is withholding evidence. Frawley won’t give up until he cracks the case and puts these criminals behind bars.
Almost halfway through the film, Doug and Claire fall in love, unbeknownst to his drug-dealing and long-suffering ex-girlfriend Krista (played by Blake Lively). Claire, who still doesn’t know anything about Doug, asks him about his family. He reveals to her that his mother left the family when he was 6, but that his father is still around. Doug hesitates to tell Claire that his father (played by Chris Cooper) is an incarcerated criminal. It seems that the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” with the MacRay men.
In an effort not to hurt Claire, Doug continues to keep his secret life from her. She confides in him, and he willingly advises her on dealing with the FBI. Claire is clueless to the fact that Doug is part of the group of masked robbers who held her hostage.
If things weren’t complicated enough for Doug, his childhood friend “Jem” (played by Jeremy Renner) pays Doug a visit to pressure him into doing another heist, which will be huge. Doug, already tired of the criminal life, wants to start a new life. He tells Jem that after this heist, he is done.
The film also stars Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, who did a good job in his role as FBI Special Agent Frawley. Blake Lively’s role as Krista—Jem’s sister—is a far departure from the straight-laced role she plays in TV’s Gossip Girl. Oscar-nominated actor Jeremy Renner does a great job in his portrayal of James “Jem” Coughlin, a hot-tempered bank robber. Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper plays a mediocre role as Doug’s father, Stephen MacRay, and Pete Postlethwaite does a remarkable job as the local crime boss Fergus “Fergie” Colm.
“The Town” is Affleck’s second time as director. In 2007, he directed and co-wrote the screenplay for “Gone Baby Gone,” which received favorable reviews. Based on the 2004 novel “Prince of Thieves” by Chuck Hogan, Affleck, who co-wrote the screenplay of “The Town” with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard, favors familiarity in this film. As he did with “Gone Baby Gone,” he cleverly uses the same actors he’s worked with before as well as his childhood hometown of Cambridge, Mass. to give audiences a more believable feeling and a sense of community.
Affleck also used historical Boston landscapes mixed in with traditional shoot ‘em up cops and robbers and intertwined it with a light-hearted love story. With the exception of the violent content, which I’m not a fan of, “The Town” is worth seeing.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, Pete Postlethwaite.
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Screenplay by: Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard
Warner Brothers film
Rated R (Strong violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and drug use), 123 minutes
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
mplo • Aug 4, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Frankly, I think that Claire had to have known who he was, but was willfully ignorant, if one gets the drift. The conversations that took place during the first two dates between Doug and Claire (especially the second one, over Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee), when Doug acted like a big know it all by schpeiling off to Claire about his (supposed) knowledge about how the crininal justice system at large works, and his “not really. I watch a lot of TV’ response to Claire’s subtle “You’re quite the expert” challenge to Doug afterwards, was, imho, definitely a red flag, which Claire would’ve taken notice of if she’d been a bit smarter and more street-wise.
The fact that Claire said to Doug “I know who you are”, as well as his purchasing an expensive Tiffany diamond necklace for her also should’ve been a clue for her to bail and get help and protection from Doug through FBI Agt. Adam Frawley.
mplo • May 29, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Having said all of the above, I also might add the following:
There are at least three types of people who really liked The Town:
A) Extremely naive or willfully ignorant people, many of who’re not from the Boston area and therefore not really aware of Boston’s history.
B) People who are from Boston and long for the days when Boston’s mean-spirited side was at an all time high.
C) People who’re criminally inclined, or who’ve other wise run amok with law enforcement people for whatever reason(s), and are therefore much more likely to root for and sympathize with Doug MacRay and his bandits, and for Claire, who became an accessory to Doug’s crimes, especially when she tipped him off with a “sunny days” code to the presence of the Feds in her house when they were on the verge of catching him.