Ed's Review Dot Com

Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, GK Films

Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Slaine, Owen Burke, Titus Welliver, Pete Postlewaite, Chris Cooper, Dennis McLaughlin, Corena Chase, Brian Scannel

The Town refers to the Charlestown section of Boston which is known for a long history of bank robbers, armored car robbers, etc. Known to the local cops as “The Town” this seems to be where most of the criminals of Boston are born and raised. We meet a gang lead by Doug MacRay (Affleck) who have just pulled off a mostly successful bank robbery. The problem was that one of the guys took the manager of the bank Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage for a short while. Later they found she was a neighbor in Charlestown. They are planning a big final heist but they have a lot of challenges. The biggest may be the FBI agent Adam (Jon Hamm) who cannot let it go and is driven to find and defeat them. To top that off, Doug meets Claire and they are attracted to each other. But she was the hostage in the bank robbery. That makes thing a bit sticky. That final heist may turn out to be their undoing.

This is an interesting crime drama! It is gritty and dark. The violence it intense and realistic and is what earns this movie an R rating. It’s well deserved. Ben Affleck directed this movie as well, and he did an excellent job. It moves along at a brisk pace and is never dull or boring. The characters are well developed and well acted. The action is great and you can almost see what the characters are seeing. There are some surprises, like Doug’s relationship with his father who is in prison. There are parts of the movie that are very suspenseful, and there are some parts that are funny. There are some that are very sad, and some that are very heart wrenching. It’s a very complete film that runs the whole range of emotions. The story is very well written. Ben’s character Doug is very hard to figure out as he is a good guy underneath with a very bad exterior. Is it his upbringing and environment that makes him bad? This is a fine film and Ben should be very proud of it. I recommend this film. When it’s over, you’ll understand a lot more about life in Boston, both from the gangsters side and the cops side. It’s an adrenaline rush.

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