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As you can see I've decided to take a short break from my Quentin Tarantino blogging marathon to review The Town, a movie that almost every American critic has seen and reviewed already due to the fact that films arrive a good decade later in the UK than they do in the US, but I digress...
THIS MOVIE IS INCREDIBLE! It's easily one of the best action movies of 2010 and possibly the best heist movie since Michaels Mann's balls to the wall cop thriller "Heat", with which it shares more than a few plot details.
The movie opens with a spectacular, ear drum shattering bang and WHAT-A-BANG. From the brutally fast paced opening sequence featuring a brilliantly directed and seemingly realistic bank robbery, in which Affleck has evidently invested a great deal of research. The break neck speed never lets up, except for breif moments of delicate character development and sentimental dialogue, which are brilliantly handled and perfectly balanced by the way.
Those who thought that "Gone Baby Gone" was some kind of one off, beautiful accident, like the night you accidentally walked into your friends mothers bedroom, will have to eat there bitter words. Who'd have thought that the man who brought us the hideous (I just threw up a little) Gigli and reindeer games could have created and starred in a film as entertaining and genuinely thrilling as The Town.
The Town is set in Charlestown, Boston and contains a variety of set pieces so exciting that half way through the final shoot out I was surprised my heart didn't burst out of my ribcage and start frantically tap dancing on the seat in front.
The second heist in which there is a frantic, tire screeching car chase through the narrow back streets of Charlestown, is a five minute long cinematic laxative. The chase is so tense that after several minutes of frantic chewing I was surprised I had any hands left let alone finger nails. Affleck uses "Bourne" style shakycam shots, where the camera is so unstable the cameraman must've been a spontaneous tap dancer in desperate need of a wee, and various helicopter shots to give a sense of the claustrophobia and tension of the robbers desperate situation whilst never forgetting the geography of the chase.
However none of the action would truly be as gripping, the shoot outs as heart wrenchingly tense if it weren't for the glorious performances by the entire ensemble drawing the audience in like a brightly coloured sweet shop draws in a fat kid with ADH.
Ben Affleck has recovered from the horrible, HORRIBLE performances of recent years to deliver a great piece of acting, taking on the role of onscreen emotional anchor, aaah pretentiousness is fun, and making his character, Doug Mcreel, sympathetic and easily one of the more likable protagonists amongst the assortment of psycho's and general bastards clamouring for screen time.
Rebecca Hall is an utter joy to watch, playing the emotionally fragile bank manager who unwittingly ends up in a relationship with one of the lovely men who recently robbed her bank and emotionally traumatised her.
Blake Lively is good as the grimy, overly used and abused prostitute who just wants a better life for her daughter... oh god I think I'm tearing up.
Jon Hamm, Mad Men's Don Draper, perfectly plays the slimy and oh-so unsympathetic Detective, desperately trying to catch and convict Doug Macreel (Ben Affleck) and his bank robbing posse.
Mention should also go to Pete Postlethwaite as the ambiguously accented and repulsively creepy florist.
However for me the true show kidnapping performance was Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner as the trigger happy best friend of Doug Macreel who's movie you some how can predict from the moment he opens his mouth. Renner is a psychotic, time bomb and a cinematic "gem"(movie in joke). He not only makes you despise and fear his character but towards the end he also encourages the audience to sympathise with him.
However the film isn't perfect. The story's cliched and the father character is under used whilst the helicopter shots of Charlestown depict it as a pleasant and quaint neighbourhood rather than the Boston version of Bagdad that Affleck has been trying so hard to portray.
The ending is also painfully sentimental and a little contrived but really now I'm just unnecessarily nit picking through the luscious hair(yes I know that was gay) of one of the best films of the year.
Affleck has not only redeemed himself of his previous atrocities but also established himself as a talented actor and all round director. Suffice to say I can't wait for his next film.
A message, a moral and kick-ass car chase what more could you want
8/10 stars
As you can see I've decided to take a short break from my Quentin Tarantino blogging marathon to review The Town, a movie that almost every American critic has seen and reviewed already due to the fact that films arrive a good decade later in the UK than they do in the US, but I digress...
THIS MOVIE IS INCREDIBLE! It's easily one of the best action movies of 2010 and possibly the best heist movie since Michaels Mann's balls to the wall cop thriller "Heat", with which it shares more than a few plot details.
The movie opens with a spectacular, ear drum shattering bang and WHAT-A-BANG. From the brutally fast paced opening sequence featuring a brilliantly directed and seemingly realistic bank robbery, in which Affleck has evidently invested a great deal of research. The break neck speed never lets up, except for breif moments of delicate character development and sentimental dialogue, which are brilliantly handled and perfectly balanced by the way.
Those who thought that "Gone Baby Gone" was some kind of one off, beautiful accident, like the night you accidentally walked into your friends mothers bedroom, will have to eat there bitter words. Who'd have thought that the man who brought us the hideous (I just threw up a little) Gigli and reindeer games could have created and starred in a film as entertaining and genuinely thrilling as The Town.
 |
| Mittens was coming down from the tree... one way or the other |
The second heist in which there is a frantic, tire screeching car chase through the narrow back streets of Charlestown, is a five minute long cinematic laxative. The chase is so tense that after several minutes of frantic chewing I was surprised I had any hands left let alone finger nails. Affleck uses "Bourne" style shakycam shots, where the camera is so unstable the cameraman must've been a spontaneous tap dancer in desperate need of a wee, and various helicopter shots to give a sense of the claustrophobia and tension of the robbers desperate situation whilst never forgetting the geography of the chase.
However none of the action would truly be as gripping, the shoot outs as heart wrenchingly tense if it weren't for the glorious performances by the entire ensemble drawing the audience in like a brightly coloured sweet shop draws in a fat kid with ADH.
Ben Affleck has recovered from the horrible, HORRIBLE performances of recent years to deliver a great piece of acting, taking on the role of onscreen emotional anchor, aaah pretentiousness is fun, and making his character, Doug Mcreel, sympathetic and easily one of the more likable protagonists amongst the assortment of psycho's and general bastards clamouring for screen time.
Rebecca Hall is an utter joy to watch, playing the emotionally fragile bank manager who unwittingly ends up in a relationship with one of the lovely men who recently robbed her bank and emotionally traumatised her.
Blake Lively is good as the grimy, overly used and abused prostitute who just wants a better life for her daughter... oh god I think I'm tearing up.
 |
| Worst... Stag Night... Ever. |
Jon Hamm, Mad Men's Don Draper, perfectly plays the slimy and oh-so unsympathetic Detective, desperately trying to catch and convict Doug Macreel (Ben Affleck) and his bank robbing posse.
Mention should also go to Pete Postlethwaite as the ambiguously accented and repulsively creepy florist.
However for me the true show kidnapping performance was Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner as the trigger happy best friend of Doug Macreel who's movie you some how can predict from the moment he opens his mouth. Renner is a psychotic, time bomb and a cinematic "gem"(movie in joke). He not only makes you despise and fear his character but towards the end he also encourages the audience to sympathise with him.
However the film isn't perfect. The story's cliched and the father character is under used whilst the helicopter shots of Charlestown depict it as a pleasant and quaint neighbourhood rather than the Boston version of Bagdad that Affleck has been trying so hard to portray.
The ending is also painfully sentimental and a little contrived but really now I'm just unnecessarily nit picking through the luscious hair(yes I know that was gay) of one of the best films of the year.
Affleck has not only redeemed himself of his previous atrocities but also established himself as a talented actor and all round director. Suffice to say I can't wait for his next film.
A message, a moral and kick-ass car chase what more could you want
8/10 stars
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