"The Town" further cements Affleck as a good director (4.25/5)

I’ll admit that I used to be a huge Ben Affleck hater. It wasn’t because he made the film abortion known as “Gigli“, although I’m sure it’s driven people to insanity. No, it was because he just seemed to be riding Matt Damon’s coat tails and his god given looks. More specifically, instead of going for challenging roles like his “Good Will Hunting” counterpart, Affleck went from one heart throb role to another. In some respects he was the precursor to Matthew McConaughey, but my opinion of Affleck changed once I saw his directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone”. Who I once saw as a talent less hack, had suddenly captured my attention with this gritty crime tale. Granted, Affleck had yet to entrance me with his acting ability, but his vision behind the camera, as well as his ability to build a scene, gave me a new perspective on his career. Suddenly, there was some semblance of talent within my view, and I started to feel that I was a little too hard on Affleck. Well, now that I’ve seen his newest foray behind the camera, “The Town”, I know I was completely dead wrong. In “The Town” , Affleck not only captures the rapturous drama found in his debut film, but he gives  the best performance of his career.

And to be honest, Affleck kind of had to deliver a great performance to match the film’s dramatic arc and the tremendous acting that surrounds him. The film itself tells the tale of a group of bank robbers in the bank robbery capital of the world: Charlestown, Massachusetts. At the head of the group is Doug MacRay (Affleck) and James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), two lifelong friends who stand at the ends of the rational spectrum. Doug, despite his foray into robbing, is a thoughtful man, while James sees violence as a problem solving tool. Amidst a normal bank robbery for them, James’ irrational behavior gets the best of him: he takes a female hostage. Said female is Claire Keesy (Rebecca Hall), the bank’s manager. Such careless behavior by James annoys Doug, but he goes along with it assuming it will protect his mod squad from being identified. So, they string her up and send her packing along the harbor. Their witness problem is seemingly vanquished, until they find out she lives within four blocks of them. James, ever the charmer, suggests taking Claire ‘out’ to assure their safety, but Doug takes the more conservative approach, and decides to find out what she knows through simply talking. Despite James’ bad vibes, Doug approaches Claire with a date in mind. As you might expect though, what was supposed to be just a case job from Doug ends up developing into a romantic relationship. Soon these two souls are baring their fears and hopes for one another, which is ironic considering it was Doug who placed a great amount of fear in Claire.  Even though the relationship began as an act, one can see how Doug fell in love with Claire: she represents everything he isn’t.

This is probably one of the more interesting aspects of the film as Claire is redemption personified. In Claire, Doug sees an escape from the seedy past of his father, as well as the escape route from a town the perpetuates a robber’s life. Affleck’s ability to play this up is extremely valuable in constructing a believable relationship between Doug and Claire. Not to mention it adds multiple layers to Doug’s character that makes us support his bad behavior versus deploring it. Despite the good tidings,  Doug’s and Claire’s relationship takes numerous dramatic turns as Doug is constantly under the gun to keep his relationship from James and the FBI, whom are starting to sniff out the bandits. Yet, for as cautious as Doug attempts to be, he and his crew are constantly under pressure to rob more banks.  As you can imagine, this ups the ante for everyone involved, and what eventually comes is a conglomeration of heist action, police procedural, and a rather poignant love story that seems like it can go in an assortment of directions. A huge amount of credit must be given to Affleck’s ability to balance a story that hinges on character, but also delivers on the thrills. Like I alluded to earlier, Affleck has an innate ability in fleshing out his characters. This is found in brooding, dialogue based sequences where the darkened souls that reside in the characters are conjured up with great ease. We can attest this to the screenplay, but the material is elevated by the nuances Affleck and his fellow actors manifest in their characters. Aside from the moving performance from Affleck, Jeremy Renner is also quite magnificent. His role is particularly tough considering that most actors often take the role of the destructive ex-con to the level of caricature. But, Renner never goes off the rails and always keeps his character’s motives grounded in misplaced emotion and rage.

Amidst the phenomenal acting is the expertly staged action sequences. In “Gone Baby Gone”,  Affleck certainly demonstrated his ability to stage scenes that crackled on the screen, but never did he show the level he reaches here. From destructive robbery attempts to a police chase in the streets of Charlestown, “The Town” has action sequences that are layered with physical impact and emotional resonance that will make most viewers reach a level of anxiety. I must admit though, if it wasn’t for Affleck’s ability to: 1) create exciting action sequences and 2) install character moments within the frame of action sequences, I would’ve been taken out of the experience. I say this simply because the bank robbers motivations for jumping back into robbery attempts are pretty damn reckless, especially when the FBI is hot on their trails. Maybe aside from the ending’s finale, the lack of reasoning and rationality behind the continuous bank robberies nearly destroys the film’s goodwill. But, thankfully Affleck is able to make up for some implausible points with great action sequences and phenomenal acting that push the story forward with great ferocity. With his effort here, I seriously can’t wait to see what  Affleck does next, and don’t be surprised if you feel the same once “The Town” ends.