I did a (VERY rough) Review on the Town, wanted to share it.
The other day I went with some of my family to see “The Town”, directed by Ben Affleck and starred in by…Ben Affleck. Affleck wanted to “accurately” portray one of the absolute worst parts of Boston, Charlestown. Charlestown, according to Affleck and “The Town”, is the bank robber capital of the world. After some research though, it would seem that this is not completely accurate. Charlestown accounts for about 2% for all of Boston’s robberies. This is not the point though, for “The Town” tells us about how “bank robbing is passed down like a trade from father to son.”
Affleck’s character, Doug Macrae, is no exception to this. He, along with his three friends, are some of the most highly elusive and intelligent robbers in Charlestown. We follow them through several robberies, and all that was going through my head was how is it they haven’t been caught?
In a way, “The Town” over glamorizes robbery. You see their plans, and watch them be carried out and get away with it. Their plans aren’t even that elaborate. I was instantly reminded of the Oceans trilogy. Now there was a group of films that had well thought out plans, but they were realistic in the sense that they didn’t fully ever get away with it.
Overall I found that “The Town” was a crude, inaccurate portrayal not only of robbery but of an existing town. The actors were alright, though somewhat dry at times and I found some of the casting a little strange. The storyline was alright, though if you are one for action you may enjoy this film. I am going to give “The Town” 2½ stars out of 5.
