The Town (2010)

You know that NRA slogan – “guns don’t kill people, people do”? Ben Affleck’s film The Town is built on similar logic – guns don’t rob banks, people do. This is a crime drama, all right, but its more about the people than about their crimes. The opening informs us that Charlestown, a “blue collar neighborhood” of Boston, is notorious for producing heist artists and bank robbers. “Blue collar” is exactly right. For the characters in The Town, robbery isn’t a kick; it’s a job. You all but expect them to punch time cards after a heist. And like any other job, robbery can get complicated. There are bad days at the office, times you just want to quit, and even (maybe) an office romance. The Town is a genre piece through and through, but it takes time to create real characters, and that lifts it above the pack.

The Town focuses on a slick team of Charlestown-bred robbers, led by Doug MacRay (Affleck). Also on the team are electronics expert Desmond (Owen Burke), ace driver Gloansy (Slaine), and Doug’s friend Jem (Jeremy Renner) who provides the muscle. In the course of a bank heist, Jem gets nervous and takes a young bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) hostage. You know, just in case. It makes Doug uneasy; kidnapping is a whole other thing. They let Claire go unharmed. Yeah, they were masked and she was blindfolded – but how much might she know? Plus, Jem swiped her driver’s license. Turns out she lives in Charlestown. Oops.

Jem offers to tail Claire and see who she talks to, and what they talk about. But Doug knows Jem is too high-strung, so he takes the job himself. Turns out that, when they both aren’t at “work,” Doug and Claire hit it off. She sees him as an ordinary, likable guy. He sees her as a lead on a new, ordinary life. If only there weren’t a few pesky secrets getting in the way. Meanwhile, a team of FBI agents led by the relentless Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) is closing in on the gang. And, wouldn’t you know, a local crime lord, Fergie the Florist (Pete Postlethwaite) picks just this time to offer Doug’s gang that One Big Job. We all know how that one goes.

Indeed we do. What keeps The Town from felling like the same old thing is that Affleck and his team make the film about personalities, not capers. Yes, there’s violence here, the action scenes are well done, and the heists are taut and suspenseful. The real tension here, though, comes from personalities. One of the tensest scenes, in fact, hinges not on who will shoot whom, but where people sit at a café table (I will leave you to discover why). I always appreciate a movie that generates more interest in characters based on what they might do than what we see them doing, and that is the case here. The plot features two wild cards. One is the hotheaded Jem. The other is Doug’s fundamental decency. Both, it turns out, could spell trouble. This movie shares more than its Boston setting with Good Will Hunting, which Affleck co-wrote. Both movies deal with the importance of choices, the costs of lying (to others and to oneself), and relationship to the past. That’s more than you usually get out of a crime picture; parts of your brain can actually get traction on this one.

Affleck, already known as a screenwriter and actor, shows a deft directing touch in The Town. Stylistic flourishes are at a minimum, and the pace never flags (more impressive a feat than it sounds – this is a talky film for an action flick). The action scenes, even if occasionally improbable, are easy to follow. I especially liked the car chase through the narrow alleys of Boston – placement and not number of cars mattered for a change. I’m tired of chases that leave a set looking like Hurricane Katrina just came through. This one - tight, twisty and desperate - feels both more realistic and more entertaining than most. The movie looks good, and is exciting where it should be, without being over the top.

The Town’s biggest asset is characterization, and the ensemble cast deserves a lion’s share of the credit. Doug is not a big stretch for Affleck, but he does what is required. Doug is believably tough when he needs to be, and also believably decent, and smart. Affleck has always excelled at good-hearted fellows with rough edges, and Doug is a credible addition to that list. Jeremy Renner, who is in danger of being typecast as the Guy You Don’t Want to Hang Out With, manages the difficult feat of making Jem both troubling and somehow understandable. Yes, the guy is dangerous, but he has reason to be—and darn it all if he doesn’t make some sense. It’s a worthy follow-up to his lauded turn in The Hurt Locker. As Frawley, Jon Hamm makes use of the same icy charm he displays as Don Draper on “Mad Men,” though the agent gets to show more emotion than the ad man. Claire is probably the character least well served by the screenplay, but Rebecca Hall nonetheless makes her seem real. Doug and Claire have believable chemistry. Able support is provided by Chris Cooper as Doug’s incarcerated father, Blake Lively as Jem’s drug-addled sister (who carries a torch for Doug), and, naturally, Mr. Postlethwaite as a florist whom you don’t want delivering anything to your door.

By the end, things shake out in ways that aren’t that surprising. What is surprising is that the film really takes the time to earn its payoffs. The Town is conventional in many aspects, but it’s not on autopilot. This is a solid second effort behind the camera for Mr. Affleck, and a pleasurable turn by a handful of talented actors. Like one of Doug’s plans, The Town is a well-executed caper.