BY MIKEY MIGO
I kept hearing and seeing that The Town was one of the best movies of 2010. It looked good from the trailers, but you really can’t tell with these kinds of movies. They may have a cool premise and some eye pleasing action, but for two and half hours it better be well worth the time. I was a fan of Affleck’s “Gone Baby Gone” so I figured that if it were to be at least on par or even a few notches below then it’d be worth it. I’m a fan of Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, and I saw some other familiar faces that could make for an interesting movie. I could have watched this movie like two months ago, but it just felt like too much of a task. A two and a half hour movie that I’m not really excited to see is almost like homework sometimes. After caving in, I shake a preverbal fist at myself for my hesitation. Off the bat, I’ll say it’s just as good as “Gone Baby Gone”, if not better. I still need to let it all seep in some more. The movie revolves around Affleck and Jeremy Renner, two friends part of a bank robbing crew from the town most known for bank robbing crews. They rob a bank, Renner is a dick to a teller and beats up the bank manager. They take the teller hostage, get her ID, and then let her loose. Affleck then stalks the teller and falls for her. Meanwhile, she is working with the FBI, lead by Jon Hamm, in finding this bank robbing crew. Drama and tension ensues. There is A LOT more depth to the movie than that, but I don’t want to get too deep into it. I went into this thinking “this is a movie about bank robbers” and that’s it. I recommend the same. It’s like the movie sneaks up on you and slaps you with its awesomeness. The direction and feel of the movie is gritty. Affleck pulled double… triple… no, quadruple duty here. He co-wrote, directed, starred, and kicked ass in this movie. He’s not the type of guy you see and think “gritty gangster type”, but he managed to pull it off well. The biggest shell shock to me is Jon Hamm. I am used to seeing him as “Don Draper” and occasionally in comedy stuff like SNL or 30 Rock. To see him go all crazy in a FBI agent role is good stuff. The man can officially do no wrong. Another surprise was Blake Lively. She plays a slutty town girl that Affleck messes around with. I may have overlooked her as another pretty face with no redeemable talent. She obviously has it and I’m now going to have to start giving her a fair chance. People talk up Jeremy Renner all the time now. Ever since he was in that movie about Foot Locker people have been all over him. Granted I haven’t see “The Foot Locker”, I’m not a big fan of athletic wear, I don’t see the hype. He did well and was creepy, but this movie was not one for him to shine. The character was written well, but he didn’t do anything that makes me want to run out and buy sneakers. Affleck did awesome here. That’s what it comes down to. “Gone Baby Gone” set the bar pretty high, but this one rises the challenge of following that up. I’d love to see Affleck do something other than Boston crime movies, but now I say do one more and call it a trilogy. B+
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