Rent The Town (2010)

A solid crime thriller. - The Town review by CP Customer

This is another solid and well made movie from director Ben Affleck, with a nice mix of character based drama and gritty crime thriller. The Blu-Ray features two cuts of the film. The two hour theatrical release and a two and a half hour extended version. In my view the extended cut is the superior movie, the storyline between Doug and Claire is more developed and the extended version also includes additional scenes which flesh out the relationships between the main group of characters.

Violence, crime and fate unfold in Boston - The Town review by Philip in Paradiso

The film starts with a bank robbery: 4 lifelong friends from Charlestown, an area of Boston said to be notorious for its professional criminal element - mostly Whites of Irish descent in what is a working-class neighbourhood - rob a bank, wearing masks. Among the 4 is Ben Affleck as Douglas 'Doug' MacRay and Jeremy Renner as James 'Jem' Coughlin. In the course of the robbery, Rebecca Hall, as Claire Keesey, who is a manager at the bank, is taken hostage, but she is released unharmed soon after the attack on the bank.

When he discovers that Claire lives near him, Doug starts following her in order to find out what she has told the authorities about the robbery - she could be a key witness. Also, he is somewhat concerned that Jem may want to eliminate her, given what she may know. Doug is tough but against gratuitous violence, whereas Jem clearly has psychopathic tendencies and appears to have no limits. Jon Hamm, as Special Agent Adam Frawley, of the FBI, leads the investigation with a view to finding who the members of the gang are and stopping them once and for all, as they have been behind a string of daring and violent attacks of this kind across the city of Boston. The film develops from here.

This is a very good, tense and suspenseful thriller, very well made, with good and plausible dialogues. What is interesting is also that the film gives us some context, in terms of the criminals' background. Doug, more particularly, is a complex character, who aspires to a different sort of life, but leaving Charlestown is not that easy: the movie shows the pressures of all kinds that gang members are under, directly and indirectly. To an extent, they are prisoners of their criminal lifestyle: opting out is not on the menu. The interaction between Claire and Doug is credible and adds to the storyline. Finally, the tense relationship between Doug and Jem is at the centre of the story - a sort of curse there is no exit out of.

There are similarities between this film and 'Heat', the great classic of the genre. But this movie is very good on its own terms. I would certainly recommend it.

Top Crime Drama - The Town review by GI

Tough, sharp and exciting this crime drama is heavily influenced by Heat (1995) but manages to have a style and narrative unique to itself. This is what good adult crime films should be like, strong characters that have a believable story arc and action set pieces that are grittily realistic and exciting. This was Ben Affleck's second feature in the director's chair and like his first directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone (2007) it shows a skill and flair for creating character based action infused drama. Set in Boston the armed robbery capital of the world. Affleck plays Doug, a skilled bank robber who runs a tight crew that includes his childhood friend Jem (Jeremy Renner), who can be a little crazy. After pulling a bank heist they briefly take the manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall) hostage to secure their getaway. She is released unharmed but Doug becomes attracted to her and sees her as his way out of the life of crime. But he's under the control of a crime boss and has to plan more heists before he can make his new life. The film has three great robbery set pieces and one of them involves a great car chase. It's violent but never gets near to gratuitousness although some of the death scenes are very realistic. The cast is exceptional and includes Jon Hamm as the FBI agent hunting the gang, Blake Lively as Doug's junkie girlfriend, Chris Cooper as Doug's father and the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as the crime boss, Fergie. This is topnotch and definitely one to check out if you've never seen it, an impressive crime film.