Movie Review: The Town

Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper star in <i>The Town.</i> Photo / Supplied

Rating: 4/5
Verdict: Ben Affleck can now put his bad patch behind him.

Ben Affleck is back in the director's chair and back on the streets of his hometown Boston (also the setting of his directing debut, Gone Baby Gone) in this well-acted and tautly paced heist thriller featuring as much romance and drama as action.

There is a familiar feel to the working class saga set on the rough streets of Charlestown, an Irish-American enclave and home to the majority of Boston's prolific bank robbers.

It is easily comparable to other work such as The Departed, Mystic River, Heat and television's The Wire, and it's the familiar story about a criminal forced to do one last job before he quits. But mostly it looks familiar due to the retro look and that it could have been set any time in the past 20 years with its gritty, bleak approach and tracksuit wearing characters.

With his script based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, Affleck has plenty going on here, and he manages most of it well. There are fast-paced heists, old-fashioned shoot-outs and, thanks to impressive attention to detail, Charlestown comes alive with its hard-case characters.

What Affleck doesn't pull off with the same conviction is the doomed, unlikely romance between his character Doug MacRay, the leader of a group of ruthless robbers, and Claire Keesey (Hall), a bank manager the gang takes hostage during a heist. Here, The Town becomes a little less Charlestown and a touch more Hollywood, especially when Doug must decide whether a new start is more important than loyalty to his family of thieves.

It may be the flawed character looking for redemption, the thoughtful looks, the deliberately minimal movements, or the way he draws words from the side of his mouth, but Affleck appears to be channelling Clint Eastwood in his performance as an urban cowboy.

It's not just a physical thing, it's also in the gravitas of the characters Affleck as co-writer has created, especially his own. It doesn't matter how intense Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) is as his best mate, how trashy Blake Lively (Gossip Girls) is as Doug's druggie white trash ex-girlfriend, or as poignant Chris Cooper is as his jailbird father, this film is all about Ben and his character Doug.

While he hasn't reached the directing or acting heights of Eastwood, Affleck proves he has the talent and skill to become a proficient storyteller. The Town might be flawed, a fraction too familiar, and not as moving as his debut; but it's also a tightly woven, intense ride that makes a valiant attempt to be more than just your everyday crime thriller.

LOWDOWN

Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively
Director: Ben Affleck
Running time: 125 mins
Rating: TBC

-TimeOut