The Town is a 2010 action-crime-thriller film that stars Ben Affleck, who has co-written and directed the movie as well.
The Town is a 2010 action-crime-thriller film that stars Ben Affleck, who has co-written and directed the movie as well.
The film is based on Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves.
Since the films release in the United States on September 17, it has ranked number one at the box office with more than $23 million.
The Town revolves around four lifelong friends - Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), James "Jem" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), Albert "Gloansy"
Magloan (Slaine), and Desmond "Dez" Elden (Owen Burke) - from the tough streets of Charlestown, Massachusetts.
When the four friends decide to rob a bank at gunpoint and take the bank manager Claire(Rebecca Hall) hostage, the story begins.
Interacting with the robbers, they run a risk of her possible ability of identifying them.
To add to the drama, there is a ruthless FBI Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) fresh on their tails...
Further adding to the frenzy of it all, whilst this merry band of friends is dodging the feds, another bank heist is being planned.
The film has a talented star cast of Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, Slaine, Titus Welliver, Pete Postlethwaite and Owen Burke.
Ben Affleck plays the lead as Doug MacRay, a career criminal. This is Affleck's second film that he has directed, after the successful Gone baby gone.
Jon Hamm, as Special Agent Adam Frawley, is an FBI agent pursuing the team of criminals. He has previously been seen in The Day the Earth Stood Still and Stolen.
Rebecca Hall, as Claire Keesey, a bank manager who falls in love with Doug. The English actress has been seen in The Prestige and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Jeremy Renner as James "Jem" Coughlin, a member of Doug's team. He was recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in the 2009 war thriller The Hurt Locker.
Blake Lively is Krista Coughlin, Jem's sister and Doug's ex-girlfriend, who has a 19-month-old daughter. The actress is most famous for her character portrayal of 'Serena van der Woodsen' in the hit show Gossip Girl.
Chris Cooper as Stephen MacRay, Doug's father. The Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, is credited with Seabiscuit, Syriana and Capote.
Titus Welliver, best known for his roles on the television shows Lost and Deadwood, plays the role of Dino Ciampa, Adam's FBI partner.
Pete Postlethwaite, as Fergie the Florist, is the crime boss in the town. Previously, he has played the mysterious lawyer "Kobayashi" in The Usual Suspects and his most recent appearances includes his stint as the ailing tycoon in Christopher Nolan's Inception.
Somewhat less generic than its title, The Town, directed by Ben Affleck from a script he wrote with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard, is a solid, minor entry in the annals of Boston crime drama. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
It is essential viewing for connoisseurs of dropped r's, close-cropped hair and aerial views of the city that used to call itself the hub of the universe. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
A sober introductory text informs us that one particular area of the city — Charlestown, where tourists can follow the Freedom Trail to the Bunker Hill Monument — is home to more armored car and bank robbers than anywhere else in America. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
One of them is Doug MacRay (Affleck), whose crew is first seen knocking over a bank in Cambridge. That sequence, like most of the other action set pieces in the film, is lean, brutal and efficient, and evidence of Mr. Affleck's skill and self-confidence as a director.(Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
His character is a bit less certain of things. The life of crime is the only one he knows. His father (Chris Cooper), serving a life term in the penitentiary, is not much of a role model. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
Doug's best friend, Jim (Jeremy Renner), who is also a surrogate brother and stickup partner, is not about to let Doug leave 'the business'. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
So he goes to A.A. meetings, guiltily sleeps with Jim's sister (Blake Lively), more out of habit than passion, and dreams of escaping to Florida. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
Further complications arrive in the form of a zealous F.B.I. man (Jon Hamm) and a young woman named Claire (Rebecca Hall), who works at the Cambridge bank and is taken hostage when something goes wrong. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
The thieves let her go, but Jim gets nervous and wants to take care of her — either scare her or, more likely, kill her before she talks to law enforcement. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
Instead, Doug says he'll deal with Claire, but starts dating her, a development that is perhaps meant to heighten the emotional intensity of his predicament but instead disrupts the film's tough mood with sentimental preposterousness. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
Claire and Doug's romance has a hint of class tension — she's what the locals call a “toonie,” meaning a gentrifying interloper into their tightly-knit bastion — but the film is too cool and procedural to give their relationship any depth of feeling. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
Similarly, the bond between Doug and Jim, which evokes every volatile old-neighborhood friendship going back to “Mean Streets,” is missing the thick, atavistic texture that would make the drama compelling. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
As it is, the performances in “The Town” are strong enough to make it watchable, and the sense of place — of topography and architecture, if not of actual social life — is vivid and enjoyable. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
A climactic caper at Fenway Park blows holes in the film's narrative and emotional credibility, but it is fast and exciting all the same, perhaps especially for Yankees fans. Otherwise, the main attraction is the blaring music of those accents. It's a lark, a spark, a walk in the park. (Review by AO Scott, New York Times)
