Does anyone remember that 1997 movie Chasing Amy? In my opinion, Joey Lauren Adams turned the cinema on its head with respect to how lesbians and women's sexuality in general are portrayed. The satirical undertone and real-worldism the movie brought to the screen was unique at the time, and it's the first (and still one of the few) "chick flicks" I could ever stomach.
That's not the point of this post though, obviously. It comes to mind because it starred Ben Affleck, who I'd never seen before and thought did an alright job in that movie playing a horny, clueless, misguided-but-trying-to-do-the-right-thing, twenty something. For a number of years, Ben didn't make many (any?) movies that were worthy of more than an embarrassed cough into your sleeve. Daredevil, Gigli, dear godiva, Pearl Harbor?
And yet, and yet...the guy can certainly write. Good Will Hunting remains one of the finest pieces of small screen gold that's ever been made, and now Ben's done something of a different flavor, but with close to as much impact.
The Town stays with the general thematic grittiness and edginess with which almost every Boston-based crime drama has in the last twenty years. Something about the recipe works, though. Affleck adapted the movie into a screenplay from the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan and directed it. Based in a suburb of Boston, Charlestown is a projects addled neighborhood that breeds car thieves and bank robbers with tragic regularity.
Affleck and three well-cast friends are such a ring of thieves, knocking over banks and armored cars for the town's resident bully, Fergie, played with shocking malice and decripitude by Pete Postlewaite. Affleck's character falls in love with hostage, played by Rebecca Hall, they'd taken and set free during a bank job, and the movie spins out of control from there. Jeremy Renner shines, as always, as Affleck's sociopathic best mate.
Though the beginning is a touch formulaic, the story really begins to pick up a little less than halfway through when Affleck's best mate realizes he's dating the one person who can ensure they're all convicted and sent to jail for a very long time. The tension tightens your guts as you watch the situation devolve, the characters begin to self-destruct, and the FBI close in. Lots of shoot-outs, high-velocity car chases (which are hard to do on narrow 18th Century designed Boston streets) and brothers-turned-enemies moments keep the action going.
The ending is better than you might expect, but I won't spill it. The gem in the film was FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley, played by Jon Hamm of the TV show Mad Men. This show is getting a lot of great reviews and awards, and after seeing Hamm's spot on portrayal of no-holds-barred, get the job done, Fed, I see why.
My only real disappointment was the lack of dimensionality in Rebecca Hall's character, who's only role was to cause conflict between the bank robber clan, and serve as a catalyst for Affleck's character to break out of his dead-end lifestyle. Too many brotherhood movies lack strong women characters. Maybe this shouldn't surprise me, given the "brotherhood" theme. But there are other ways to accomplish these types of movies and give the female characters some real depth and a real role. Vera Farmiga's role in The Departed is a perfect example.
Let me know what you think.
