Nuns with guns - one of an assortment of intimidating costumes used by Doug's crew, mainly, I suspect, to create a sense of fear amongst the film's audience.
Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Peter Craig (screenplay), Ben Affleck (screenplay)
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm
Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is a Charlestown armed bank robber who falls for Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), the manager of the last bank he robbed. As FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) closes in on him and his crew Doug is forced to choose between a new start with Claire and his old Charlestown life, most notably his best friend James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), James’ sister Krista (Blake Lively), with whom he has a casual sexual relationship and the intimidating leader of their crew, Fergus Colm (Pete Postlethwaite).
My problem with The Town is as a heist film it’s not particularly sophisticated and as a crime thriller, while it’s engaging in parts, it’s not anything that hasn’t been done before. Just read the plot summary above: The essence of this film’s plot is one that we have seen in different guises before.
There are glimpses of an interesting, complex character in Doug MacRay, which are touched on in his relationship with Claire and his respect for his Charlestown neighbourhood, but not developed enough to give the audience any more than a superficial impression of who he is, which is disappointing given that this is the focus of the film.
I also don’t buy the plotline that sees Doug fall for Claire, after she becomes the key witness in an FBI investigation Doug’s heist on her bank. For a professional criminal who is portrayed as intelligent, meticulous and cautious this seems a huge oversight.
This is not a bad film by any means. It is well shot and visually interesting and it is a competently acted film: Affleck can do action films, Pete Postlethwaite always delivers (albeit in this case his role is relatively minor) and Blake Lively is surprisingly good as drug-addled Krista. I’m sure fans of the genre will enjoy this film, although there is some room for improvement.
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