I went into seeing this movie without much expectations, and truthfully, the pace of it had me wondering when things were going to pick up, but little did I know that that pacing was to get me ready for what turns out to be quite the adult, quite the professional, quite the unexpected, and quite possibly one of the best movies to come this season.
The town is about a family in Boston - in the city of Charlestown - where the skill of robbing banks is handed down from each generation to the next. Doug MacRay is played by Ben Affleck, who is also directing this thriller. He has directed before in the movie Gone Baby Gone and it shows that he not only has an eye for the camera, but he has really learned from a few good men (no pun intended). Doug's father Stephen (Chris Cooper) is serving multiple life sencences (which he describes in one of the most funniest and clever lines in the movie) for murders caused by his robberies, which Doug is trying NOT to duplicate. It is something that becomes hard when working with the crew he has been commissioned with which include, James (Jeremy Renner) a loose cannon who aches for action and has a loose trigger finger, Gloansy (Slaine), and Desmond (Owen Burke).
The Town of Charlestown feels like its own character at times, as we are introduced to what looks like a town used to secrets. It is very clean, with common people who seem to know each other, but like any live body, there are parasites that run through it that it just can't seem to get rid of, so the town continues to survive while a disease runs its course. Doug is caught up in this in the opening scene when they rob a bank, and he meets with the female bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall), a woman that represents the cleanliness of the town, and when James decides to take her as hostage, you can tell even the parasites have their own diseases. Taking a hostage could mean a shoot-out, or having to eventually kill them for your own safety. Even with their masks on, and the manager eventually released, you can tell that James is still not sure if he has made the right decision in keeping her alive.
But that little robbery has sparked a match under the ass of their local FBI agency, and the investigator Adam (Jon Hamm) who knows who is doing these robberies, but hasn't the evidence to catch them. It has also sparked something in James - which shows the Hurt Locker star as one we are going to have to watch out for - who wants to perform another job as soon as possible. It has also sparked a little saliva from their overall boss Fergie (Pete Postelthwaite) who runs this operation from a florist shop he runs. Even behind the flowers the bugs still lurke. Everyone wants something from Doug - but Doug only wants Claire, and these forces soon realize his attachment for her, and use that leverage to their advantage in keeping Doug in the racket.
The performances are stellar, with Doug playing the "cool within" as he struggles with feelings of a different life while struggling with the decisions of the old. James and Claire are opposite coins in Doug's life, both actors have truly captured the eventual betrayal of Doug as well as a suffused love for him. I have to give it to Jon Hamm as the FBI agent, his years on Mad Men have shown he can delve into characters that are forced to change their nature from the one that everyone perceives him to be.
On a side note, The Town becomes a little white-washed in its tone. Are there any minorities in Boston anymore. I have been to Charlestown, and it didn't seem this non-progressive, but then again, it seems to be the way of Hollywood. It is forgiven once the performances build, and the choices have to be made by each one based upon Doug's wanting to get out, and James wanting to stay in. Their convictions remain all the way to the final moments in the movie. Everyone has to sacrifice something in this movie, and it is usually the thing they love the most.
I am reminded of many formulas this movie emulates, from Good Fellows, to The God Father, to even Bonnie and Clyde and Mystic River. There is action, but nothing that will blast your eardrums and blind your eyes. It's an energy of danger that lurks underneath, like an itch under the skin that you can't quite can't reach. But when you reach it...it feels pretty good.
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