THE TOWN 4.0****
A bank robbery goes different than planned when one of the robbers takes a hostage. She is let go and Doug (Ben Affleck) has to duty to check up on the hostage to see if she knows anything about the crew. Surprise, no shock, but somehow it’s believable that they start dating. Can he continue his life of robbing banks and have a love life with the hostage? Will his crew accept that he is with her? Will she ever find out? This is a part of “The Town”.

“Gone Baby Gone was Affleck’s first directorial effort set in the city of Boston. “The Town” is his second. Ben obviously loves the city and if he keeps making films like these two, I'll be happy with more Boston Flick. And
this time Affleck is behind and in front of the camera. He seems to have left his pretty boy blockbuster image behind him. I'm thankful, I can only take so many Armageddon’s or Pearl Harbors. He's matured as an actor. Of course he's had some fun films in between, but he's probably the best thing about those.

For “The Town” he has assembled quite the cast. Jeremy Renner, who is hot off of “The Hurt Locker” plays his long time buddy with an attitude who won't think twice about pulling the trigger . TV’s “Mad Men's” Jon Hamm is the relentless, tough FBI agent on their trail. Blake Lively has a small but stunning role of the almost slutty ex-girlfriend. Rebecca Hall ( the brunette in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) has the difficult role of playing the woman who is dating her abductor. Things never really look promising for the relationship but…..

“The Town” also shows Affleck's ability at directing action sequences. The movie is full gunfights and car chases.. There are three separate heists in the film, the opening, the middle section and the climactic ending. All three are different from each other, one is in a bank, the other a armored truck and finally a baseball stadium. Each heist is tense and exciting.
The Town is a successful and suspenseful film made for adults. It's slick, well acted and has enough thrilling moments to keep you very entertained. “The Town” does its job as a movie quite well and Ben Affleck has found himself a new career.
NOTE: The title gets its name from the section of Boston where the movie takes place… Charlestown which in reality has the distinction of having more bank robbers from there than any other place in the world.
Clark