The Town

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
Surprised there's not already a thread on this.

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I AGREE


Just saw the film and gotta say it was pretty amazing. I'm not a crime/gang film type of guy (I didn't enjoy the godfather or mean streets), but this film I quite enjoyed. Maybe it was the robberies and the cleverly written action that ensued, maybe it was the characters and the situations they're put in. Whatever it was I really enjoyed it.
 
Wife and I just got back from seeing it, we both thought it was excellent all around.

Some of the gun battles paid homage to Heat.
 
I think this may be the film that will bring Mr. Affleck back from his career downfall since the day he got himself tangled with Jennifer Lopez... He tried hard to shake off the "Bennifer" syndrome but was never able to get rid of it. Maybe this movie will help a bit. I liked it a lot and Ben had won my respect back as an actor and a filmmaker.
 
pathfinder said:
I think this may be the film that will bring Mr. Affleck back from his career downfall since the day he got himself tangled with Jennifer Lopez... He tried hard to shake off the "Bennifer" syndrome but was never able to get rid of it. Maybe this movie will help a bit. I liked it a lot and Ben had won my respect back as an actor and a filmmaker.
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I see what you're saying, but I'd argue that he's been "back" for a couple years now. Starting tentatively with his role in Hollywoodland, and then more securely with his direction of 2008's wonderful Gone Baby Gone. If you're saying that this film will finally cement his return, than yes I agree.
 
"Don't call it a comeback, Ben's been here for years!"

+1 on Gone Baby Gone.
 
Is it just me or anyone else felt like they are watching Law and Order SVU ? I think John Hamm's role and look are very simillar to Christopher Meloni from Law and Order. IDK, that kinda took away that I am actually watching a feature film vs the the TV. I would've cast somebody else.
 
I saw it a few weeks back, I really liked it. Gritty, very raw scenes, no overacting or stupid gimmicks in it, just a good story and well shot & acted.

Affleck's strength is that he can take very simple stories and craft them into things people can relate to and actually are entertained by. Put Affleck in as the superhero and he gets lost. I think his niche is the simple anytown USA story (although, he prefers Boston clearly) and he is able to bring out the characters through straightforward storytelling. Hey, he's done good for himself, I think he's shown he can now direct as well as act. I actually think he's a better director than actor now, this is what he needs to get doing (directing).

However, after seeing this, I wonder if Affleck can keep going back to the Boston-based stories time and time again. He's now got Goodwill Hunting, Gone Baby Gone and The Town all based in Boston. At some point, he'll have to branch out into other geographical areas I'm guessing. Still, the Boston theme seems to work for now, very interesting to me since I've never been there before.
 
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I was a bit underwhelmed. Not terrible, but something just felt sub-par.

*spoilers*
I felt this movie was living in the shadows of The Departed. That film trumped The Town on so many levels. Better character development, a love story I actually cared about, and action sequences that went somewhere.

WTF, how unrealistic could The Town be? I've seen a higher body count on an episode of The A Team. With so many automatic weapons spraying bullets around, people would be getting hit & killed left and right.

And yeah, as brought up, I felt like I was watching something episodic, like CSI. All the tension was sucked out of the room when we realized that Don Draper and his team knew EXACTLY who was behind the robberies, but for whatever reason they just could find substantial evidence to bust them. LOL, they just couldn't find that one fingerprint that would have cracked the case. :Drogar-Sick(DBG):

And the head gangsters. Where's the backstory? Why should we be scared of them? Cool characters, but a few 3 minute conversations in a flower shop does not a cool villian make.

The Departed had a s**tload of characters, but I remember many of them to this day. The Town tried to do the same, but w/o proper character development, the film fell short.

After all my bashing, I say it's worth seeing, but I'm not holding this one to a very high regard.
 
Deepfocus88 said:
WTF, how unrealistic could The Town be? I've seen a higher body count on an episode of The A Team. With so many automatic weapons spraying bullets around, people would be getting hit & killed left and right.
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That's not how it works in a real life non-Hollywood firefight.

In that regard it was VERY realistic.
 
One hour in... Oktava "bello nero" for the "robbery script"... had to laugh at that... no doubt.

Aside from that... enjoying "another" redemption... apparently Ben's got some talent.
 
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