The Town
by Ben Affleck (2010)
Doug is the leader of a gang of robbers operating in Charlestown.
He ends up falling in love with a young bank manager, who was taken hostage and then released during a robbery.
“On days this sunny, I think someone’s going to die.”
(Claire Keesey)
A Different Man.
At first glance, Doug might seem like any other member of his criminal gang.
A massive man, full of tattoos, with that lazy, almost cocky smile.
So perfectly at ease, even relaxed, during yet another robbery.
A typical character, then, complete with a father behind bars and a mother who mysteriously “disappeared” one day, leaving no trace.
He roams the neighborhood with his friend Jem, the prototype of a perfect thug with a quick trigger, sporting dark sunglasses and a gold chain. Both work for “the Florist.”
Doug lives in a violent and corrupt city where no future seems possible except to make a career in organized crime.
A city where “more bank and armored truck robbers have come out than anywhere else in the world”; a city that is a true factory of criminals.
Yet, Doug is different. Beneath the surface, behind the appearances, he seeks redemption, an opportunity, something that will save him from a fate seemingly sealed from birth.
His is a real struggle, against everything.
Even against a ruined career in pro hockey due to an overly short temper.
Doug meets Claire, the bank manager taken hostage during the last robbery, and sees in her all the purity and honesty he’s always searched for.
And he clings to it. Desperately.
Considerations.
Ben Affleck, for his second film as a director, adapts the novel “Prince of Thieves” by Chuck Hogan.
The result is an absolutely respectable crime drama that fears no comparison.
What’s surprising, more than anything else, besides impeccable direction, is the perfect balance with which he manages all the elements throughout the film.
The movie succeeds both in its raw and truthful portrayal of a city in chaos and in its exploration of the intimate emotions of its characters.
The scenes depicting criminal activities like robberies and shootouts are of a high standard, shot with a fast pace typical of the best genre cinema.
But the character development and the love story that unfolds between the two protagonists are also notable, never falling into excessive sentimentality.
If Affleck perfectly embodies the role of a criminal with a “soft heart,” Rebecca Hall is also excellent as the bank manager whose life is suddenly turned upside down.
The Town is available on Netflix.
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