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.

A very good film (Theatrical Cut reviewed, not Extended) - The Town review by Timmy B

When I first watched The Town many years ago, after about half an hour I turned it off, as I was in the wrong frame of mind to watch it and at that time, it wasn’t gripping me. But after seeing it re-released on 4K and also having watched both Argo and Gone Baby Gone, I wanted to give it another shot and I’m really pleased I did.

The film is really good, with moments of high tension, as well as great performances. The robberies were all staged excellently and the smaller, quieter moments also hit home as well.

Ben Affleck is great in the central role, and the supporting cast are also excellent. Chris Cooper turned up for one scene and made more impact in 5 minutes than some actors manage in an entire film. For me, there were 2 stand-out performances; Jeremy Renner as psychopathic Jem, who rightly was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, ratcheted up the tension whenever he was on screen and you never knew what his character was going to do.

And finally, Pete Postlewaite as Fergus “The Florist.” This was a poignant and sad moment for me as not only did he, like Chris Cooper, only have a very small amount of screen time which he did wonders with; but this was one of his last performances before his death and it was clear how ill he was and deservedly he was nominated for a BAFTA.

The only frustration was that the 4K Blu-Ray did not have the Extended version, which is meant to completely change the dynamic of the film and also has a completely changed ending, which is Affleck’s preferred one.