THE STORY – Doug MacRay leads a band of ruthless bank robbers and has no real attachments except for James, who – despite his dangerous temper – is like a brother to him. Everything changes for Doug when James briefly takes a hostage, bank employee Claire Keesey. Learning that she lives in the gang’s neighborhood, Doug seeks her out to discover what she knows, and he falls in love. As the romance deepens, he wants out of his criminal life, but that could threaten Claire.
THE CAST – Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Titus Welliver, Pete Postlethwaite & Chris Cooper
THE TEAM – Ben Affleck (Director/Writer), Aaron Stockard & Peter Craig (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 124 Minutes
Ben Affleck is not a relatable movie star. He’s the antithesis of his buddy, Matt Damon, who radiates so much everyman-ness that he can subvert his likeability in a role and still wind up likable. Affleck’s likeability dims the more he tries to shove it into the spotlight. It’s the reason he became a Hollywood punchline in the mid-2000s and also the reason he was so convincing as a charmless husband in David Fincher’s “Gone Girl.“ Affleck is at his best when he ditches these conventional markers of stardom and leans into his callous persona. That he decided to do so while simultaneously tributing one of his favorite filmmakers, Michael Mann is what makes “The Town“ (2010) such a fascinating release to unpack.
“The Town” sees Affleck pull triple duty as co-writer, director, and star. He had already co-written and directed one film prior – 2007’s “Gone Baby Gone” – and acted for nearly two decades prior, but the Boston crime saga marked the first time he’d attempt to do all of them at once. “The Town” revolves around a gang of bank robbers led by Doug MacRay (Affleck). Doug pursues Claire (Rebecca Hall), a woman who was taken hostage during one of his jobs, against his better judgment while simultaneously dodging FBI Agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) and keeping his hot-heated partner Jem (Jeremy Renner) at bay.
Mann’s “Heat” (1995) is the obvious reference point for Affleck’s “The Town.” Both films detail a conflict between cops and robbers while exploring the domestic squabbles and personal struggles of the people involved. It’s about as sound a construction as one can find for a heist flick, provided you have the runtime and the talent to match Mann’s magnum opus. Perhaps unsurprisingly, “The Town” falls short. Here, Affleck is still figuring out his style as a director, and there are moments, particularly during the climactic shootout, where he tries to unspool and repackage the tension that Mann wound to perfection in his L.A. saga. It’s well done, and Affleck has an eye for spatial awareness regarding chaotic action. Still, in sticking so closely to the Mann playbook, the comparisons are difficult to avoid and often unflattering. It’s the difference between the real McCoy and an excellent forgery. Something is slightly off-center.
Affleck also has the disadvantage of trying to tell a borderline ensemble piece with a little more than two hours of screen time. The theatrical cut of “The Town,” which is obviously the most readily available, does a disservice to the film’s peripheral characters by slashing the interactions that inform their crucial decisions in the story. Frawley and Jem’s sister, Krista “Kris” Coughlin (Blake Lively), are the characters who suffer the most despite the capable, oftentimes stirring performances their respective actors are giving. The director’s cut, which runs 150 minutes, restores the smaller moments and allows the film to get close to – if not entirely realize – the sprawling experience that Affleck is striving for.
But, enough about “Heat.” Affleck does Mann heists with masks, which is well-trod ground. The film that gets brought up far less with regards to “The Town,” but is infinitely more fascinating as a point of comparison, is “Good Will Hunting.” Both films are firmly entrenched in working-class Boston, feature complicated relationships between childhood friends, and conclude with open-ended appeals to repair a fractured romance. Obviously, the genre trappings are radically different, but it’s these repeated frameworks, these grounded human dynamics, where “The Town” truly excels.
Affleck, who wrote “The Town” with Aaron Stoddard, has a knack for depicting the ugly, often traumatic circumstances in which two people bond. The opening heist – when Doug instructs a terrified Claire to open a bank vault has a startling intimacy that feels captured rather than performed. The execution could have been mawkish in another director’s hands, but Affleck strikes just the right balance between dramatic and realistic. His chemistry with Hall is not innate, but neither is the dynamic between their characters, which makes their moments of uncertainty ring all the more true.
Doug’s finite romance with Claire is offset, of course, by his tumultuous friendship with Jem. Renner excels in a role designed to steal scenes, delivering several of the most memorable lines. Plenty of ink has been spilled about the fraternal dynamics in Mann’s films, as well as Affleck’s own screenplay for “Good Will Hunting.” But, Doug and Jem and their doomed attempt to remain close despite their increasingly differing goals gives “The Town” its strongest emotional throughline. It’s these two, not the Nun masks and not Affleck’s stardom, that keep bringing us back.
There’s a lot to like about “The Town.” It’s a star-studded neo-noir with strong performances and slick direction. Affleck refines the filmmaking talents that were evident in his debut and wisely casts himself in a role that suits his acting strengths. Where it ultimately falls short of the films it’s emulating is that the emulation is always apparent. It’s a well-executed mashup of set pieces and character dynamics that fail to build on what came before. Which, truth be told, still makes for a pretty entertaining viewing.
