It’s easy to forget that despite having made some terrible films, Ben Affleck is in fact a triple threat; writer, director, actor. The danger of being seen as an egotist are huge, especially if you have a mug as cheesy as Affleck’s but luckily, he proves with The Town as he did with his directorial debut Gone, Baby Gone, and indeed Good Will Hunting that he is an extremely competent filmmaker with a natural talent for bringing stories to life, whether he’s behind the camera, in front of it, or holed up in an apartment bashing out a script with Matt Damon.
The Town is set in Charlestown, Boston; an area notorious for producing bank robbers. As the film informs us, being a bank robber is seen as a trade of sorts and comes to the kids in the area naturally, as they learn all the tricks from their fathers from a young age. When a gang of robbers knock over a bank in a thrilling heist towards the start of the film, they take blindfolded bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage, then let her go when they’ve made their getaway. Afraid that she has been talking to the FBI, bank-robber Doug (Affleck) begins to tail her and in the process, of course, falls in love. That’s the basic setup of the film, which is a pretty bog-standard heist movie story. What sets this film apart is how well the story is told and the stylishness with which is it presented.
The script is nearly flawless, every actor perfectly cast and every scene a nail-biter. This is not just a crime movie; it has the epic vastness of a film that’s showing the audience a snapshot of a marginal part of society and immersing us in their world as fully as possible. The cops are mean, the robbers are mean, the only likeable thing about any of these characters is the tragic inevitability of their ultimate demise. This way of life is different to a story like Goodfellas. It is not about falling in with a bad crowd, or getting caught up in a whirlwind of sex and drugs, it is simply what these kids were born into.
The Town is what cinema is all about. It is an engaging ride throughout, with an instant classic car chase through the North End of Boston that made me feel slightly queasy with tension. Despite a slightly disappointing final coda, this gem of a thriller is pitch-perfect and exciting, but packing enough of an emotional punch to keep the characters engaging. Highly, highly recommended; they don’t come much better than this.
Words Charlene Lydon
