The Town (***1/4)

I never thought Ben Affleck deserved his reputation as a mere pretty boy, having co-written Good Will Hunting and appeared in a number of smart films like Changing Lanes and Chasing Amy. But this, his second effort as a writer-director, confirms that, and shows that Gone Baby Gone was no fluke. (Affleck, adapting a Chuck Hogan novel, shares the screenplay credit with Peter Craig and Gone Baby Gone’s Aaron Stockard.) This is slightly more of a crowd-pleaser, being about boys causing mayhem, not the kidnapping of a junkie’s daughter. There’s even a car chase. But Affleck, who also stars, retains the intelligent approach he took before.

Take the opening sequence, where Affleck’s character Doug robs a bank with his three masked accomplices. Director Affleck keeps the music down, cuts back and forth from the victims to the perpetrators, and even shows the security cameras. It’s done in a way that shows the excitement of the robbers, but also the fear and confusion of the victims. One of them is a bank manager played by Rebecca Hall, whose expressive face conveys everything Affleck is trying to show. That Doug will wind up courting her—albeit without disclosing his profession—is the crux of the plot.

As with Gone Baby Gone, the film takes place in a Boston neighborhood, Charlestown. There, bank robbery is practically the chief source of employment, a profession handed down from father to son. Doug’s father (Chris Cooper in a small role), is in prison. The use of location is key to both the feel and the plot of the movie.

I’d say this falls just short of the earlier film, if only because it slightly sentimentalizes Doug in a not entirely convincing way. The more overt brutality of his partner and childhood pal (Jeremy Renner) seems meant to make Doug more likable by comparison, although Doug is happy enough when they’re shooting at police after a car chase. Meanwhile, the police detective played by Jon Hamm isn’t exactly a villain, but the character is (under-)written almost as if he’s someone nursing a mysterious grudge rather than one trying to protect the public. His badass line is “This not-fucking-around thing is about to go both ways.” But most of the time the movie is more subtle. Affleck, who went Hollywood, has come back strongly.

IMDB link

viewed 9/14/10 at Ritz 5 [PFS screening] and reviewed 9/17/10