Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Town

Directed (and written) by Ben Affleck, Warner Brothers Pictures, 2010. Starring Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm and Jeremy Renner.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller.

The Town was one movie that was heavily promoted before its release. I must have seen the trailers and previews thirty times before actually seeing the movie this past weekend.

Although I enjoyed the movie, the previews did reveal too much. I knew what was going to happen next mainly after seeing the extended preview in the movie theatre way back when. Those previews are longer than TV previews and it, unfortunately, showed the entire plot. So if you only saw the trailer on TV or you were lucky enough to have skipped it altogether, rent it.

Despite having a predictable story, I found the acting very believable and that kept my interest throughout the entire movie. Jeremy Renner, from The Hurt Locker, was wonderful. I wonder why he isn’t in more movies. But I have a feeling we will be seeing him a lot in the future.

I heard some similar comments about The Town: “if you are from Boston you will really enjoy this film”. Well, I am from Cincinnati and I enjoyed this film. Although I did find the Boston accent a bit over the top and distracting, but then again, I didn’t grow up there, so what do I know? I am sure Ben Affleck was going for realism. However, I hope he will diversify to a different town, when he writes his next screenplay, because every time I hear his Boston accent I am transported back to Good Will Hunting. Not a bad thing because I loved that movie but it takes me out of the current story I am viewing.

I do think Ben Affleck has become a good director and I look forward to watching more of his projects.

Favorite thing: Jeremy Renner

Least favorite thing: The Boston accent – it was just a little distracting.

Possibility of a sequel: Yeah, I would say so.

Did the previews show too much: Yes.

Rating: R
Length: 125 minutes

Review: 7 out of 10

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

IDK I'm going to give this movie a thumbs to the side. I thought there was quite a lull in the middle of the movie and just wanted to get on with it already. Strangely this is usually the type of movie I enjoy... I was a little dissatisfied and thought he could have shaved at least 1/2 off the story.