Angela Sep 18, 2010 (edited Dec 28, 2010)
The Town has been opening to stellar reviews, and for good reason: it's pretty damned excellent. Though I haven't seen the critically acclaimed Gone Baby Gone, you could've knocked me over with a feather if you'd told me that Ben Affleck is capable of being such a terrific director. With The Town, he's concocted a smart, suspenseful crime drama that's expertly shot and teeming with solid character performances.
Affleck is clearly channeling Mann and Scorsese; the set pieces and shoot-outs are as spectacular and gritty as anything you've seen in Heat, and his cinematic interpretation of Boston as vivid as in The Departed. Yet there's something else going on here, something that Affleck has drawn solely from within himself. Unlike said films, The Town intermingles character development with a stronger sense of thematic resonance. Moral ambiguity is placed at the forefront, and it's that emotive component that goes a long way toward offsetting the typically cold detachment these types of movies are known to suffer from. It's a far more satisfying tale for it.
Affleck himself turns in a great performance. He's the calm, subtle yin to Renner's raging yang, and his Doug MacRay is fraught with a myriad of internal conflictions. His newfound love interest and desire for an out is put at odds with the loyalty to his heist mates, and a greater force that he knows he can't reckon with. Renner brings a bit of the wild streak that his character from The Hurt Locker possessed, his Gem Coughlin serving as equal brother-in-arms and semi-antagonist for Affleck's MacRay.
The rest of the supporting cast bring their A-game. This would mark the third time this year I've seen Pete Postlethwaite in theaters (Clash of the Titans and Inception before it), but he's definitely the best as the villainous Fergie. I still haven't seen Mad Men, but watching Jon Hamm as the hellbent Agent Frawley makes me want to. Chris Cooper plays MacRay's convicted pop, and they share what may well be the briefest but most memorable sequence in the movie. Even Blake Lively makes a wonderful turn as the gorgeous, but trashy and tormented Krista.
David Buckley and Gregson-Williams manage a decent music score. The gentle, somber piano creates a nice countermeasure to the slickly electronic but generically composed action bits, best exemplified by The Letter and Nuns With Guns respectively.
Given his track record, the general consensus is that Affleck would excel more in operating the cameras rather than being in front of them. A compelling argument, but to me, his acting chops in The Town managed to shine just as brightly. Color me impressed.
