Great heist films don’t come along often because the genre typically requires one of two things: an unexpected twist or elaborate scheme to keep the audience guessing or a taut game of cat and mouse with the crafty team just mere steps ahead of a tireless detective. Plot holes and less than satisfying pay-offs often prove ruination for the genre (Ocean’s 12, Ocean’s 13, Armored, etc.), and it really should come as no surprise. Attempting to thrill and/or fool a modern audience gets harder every year as they learn to look around the metaphorical corner for the trick, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. If perfect heists were so easy to plan they’d be a lot more common in everyday life. Instead, we’re left to savor the occasional moment of brilliance when a film comes along that either holds an unforeseen ace in the hole (The Good Thief) or manages to create riveting tension among its characters betwixt the pulse-pounding action sequences (Heat). The Town is one such film to savor.
Glass breaks. Guns wave about in the air barking over the screams of the frightened people whose first instincts are to drop to the floor as the men in masks have ordered. They systematically strip the safes of their monetary holdings and prepare for their escape. In the heat of the moment the robbers take a frightened, blindfolded Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage. They drive off and leave her alive by the docks. It’s the perfect crime, and one of many. In the city of Boston, there exists a neighborhood that produces a disproportionate amount of criminals, many of who are responsible for countless bank robberies in a given year and whose shantytown abodes serve as a labyrinth of routes in which to lose police pursuit. This is why FBI Special Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) closes the bridge that leads directly from Boston to the hive every time a heist is in progress – but it doesn’t always work. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) and his crew are the very definition of career criminals. They rob banks for a living, but Doug wants to retire, which might not sit well with the others who rely on the regular paydays. Furthermore, he’s found himself enamored with Claire, who just so happens to frequent his laundromat. As he and she grow closer, Frawley begins to close in, bringing the film to a boiling point that few crime thrillers or heist films in recent memory have accomplished.
Though adapted from a novel by Chuck Hogan, Affleck has proven once again that his perhaps his greatest strengths as a filmmaker lie behind the camera. As both a co-writer (along with Aaron Stockard and Peter Craig) and the film’s Director, he expertly crafts a film that starts off with a bang and keeps the pace up without sacrificing the careful construction of characters that feel like genuine artifacts of the world’s they come from. He elicits fantastic performances from himself and Hamm, and also manages to prop up the film with strong showings by Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, the late Pete Postlethwaite, and Chris Cooper.
An especially interesting thing to note in the case of this release, is the inclusion of both the theatrical and extended cut, each of which works on its own merits. For my money, the pacing on the extended cut feels smoother and keeps you interested with no difficulty, but for those who want an A to B crime thriller can take advantage of the theatrical version which goes significantly faster with 28 minutes shaved off.
The hi-def presentation of the film is nearly flawless with the action sequences looking quite brilliant in 1080p. It’s one of the few dramas of 2010 that actually warrants a watch in hi-def as Affleck made great use of Boston’s signature architecture and there’s some great cinematography carrying the film from start to finish, courtesy of Robert Elswit.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
There are two main pieces to the Blu-ray’s extra features, the first being a collection of spots highlighting the various parts of Boston Affleck used in the film, with the director giving us his rationale for the use of each and why he considers them to be the epitome of Boston. The second half of the extras is a commentary on both versions – unfortunately, it’s an old school audio commentary and not an inset video commentary. It’s a shame because that sort of commentary tends to be more rewarding as directors will pause the film to expound at length about their vision for the film, something that would be interesting to hear from Affleck as he proves himself once again a very capable director.
"The Town" is on sale December 17, 2010 and is rated R. Crime-Thriller, Drama. Directed by Ben Affleck. Written by Peter Craig and Ben Affleck (screenplay), Chuck Hogan (novel). Starring Ben Affleck, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Pete Postlethwaite, Rebecca Hall.
