Why So Blu?

Stop Into ‘The Town’ This Weekend

Although I’m certainly not biggest Ben Affleck fan around, The Town is definitely one of the movies I have been looking forward to all summer long since seeing its trailer.  Maybe it’s those devilish looking bank robbing masks that just remind me so much of  Point Break or maybe it’s the simple fact that this film just blatantly looks so bad-a$$, but whatever it is, I was nevertheless pumped going into the press screening.  With an impressive cast, an intriguing storyline (from what I knew) and a trailer that made me want to plop my hard earned cash down months ago on advance seating tickets, how could this film ever disappoint? I really hate these kind of questions, don’t you?

The Town is an action crime thriller film that was both written and directed by “Bennifer” Affleck.  Sorry, I mean Ben Affleck.  I really don’t dislike him that much, I swear.  The film is based on a novel called Prince of Thieves, written by Chuck Hogan.  Something is telling me that this book is not about the swashbuckling Robin Hood character.  Anyway, the film also stars Ben Affleck, big surprise, and Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Pete Postlethwaite and Chris Cooper.

The Town wastes no time in setting the stage in motion as it tells the tale of four Charlestown, Massachusetts bank robbers depicting them in their every day lives, pulling off high stake heists and most importantly, evading law enforcement.  I say most importantly to the last point because that is basically what The Town is all about, the avoidance of being caught, plus a mandatory B-love story thrown in for proper screenplay standards.  And get this…Ben Affleck plays a bad guy, well kind of.  Ultimately, his attraction to a certain assistant bank manager (Rebecca Hall) is his career limiting move, but that does not stop him from pressing forward and pulling off one of the biggest heists of his life in order to, you guessed it, retire for good and get the girl too.  But is it really ever that simple?  Things like this rarely ever are, and thankfully The Town is no exception to the rule.

While the performances are not as rock solid as Ben’s other efforts like Good Will Hunting or Gone Baby Gone, they are still way above average here and lend themselves well in believably sucking you into the screenplay.  And while the wish washy ending is going to leave the majority of intelligent moviegoers scratching their heads like really, is that really possible, I guess it’s better than the alternate doomed possibilities Affleck could have taken this to.  It’s always a treat for me when a criminal character is designed well enough to make you feel sympathy for them and ultimately care about them so that by the film’s end, you can’t help but not root for them.  Films like this always hold a soft spot in my heart.  I think that’s why I liked  The Town as much as I did.  It’s not the best bank heist film you are ever going to see, but after a dismal year at the movies so far this year, it’s nice to see a diamond in the rough every once in awhile.  As it stands, The Town is now in my “Top 10” of the year.  The question is whether it will stay there or not.

And if you want another sure fire way to find out whether I like a movie or not, then here’s your chance.  There were no hot actresses like Jessica Alba or Gemma Arterton to sell me on this.  And despite my distaste for Ben Affleck, most of the time, I fell in love with this film over its grisly depicted subject matter.  So when someone asks me that million dollar question, “Are you going to buy this one on Blu-ray when it comes out?”  My immediate response will be “Day one baby, day one.”  This one is a slow burning action thriller, but much like the character relationships formed in The Departed, this one sucked me in from the getgo and never let go.  I rooted for Affleck’s character throughout, and while I wish they could have made the final escape scene just a little bit different for believability reasons and whatnot, I liked it for what it was.  It was brutal, honest and raw, much like how Good Will Hunting appealed to me.  Do yourself a favor and visit The Town this weekend!