Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 1, 2010
The Critic's Corner
David Laprad
Bank robberies are messy. One moment, money is peacefully exchanging hands; the next, armed thugs are screaming, waving semi-automatic weapons in the air, ransacking teller stations and cracking skulls. Security guards are shot, people are traumatized, safes are emptied and hearts are broken.
Yes, hearts are broken. As proof, I submit “The Town,” an emotional and action-packed drama starring Ben Affleck, who also wrote and directed the film. Maybe criminals and victims rarely hook up during a robbery, but Affleck does such a good job of making nearly every beat of a cliché-ridden script seem plausible. You’ll believe it could happen.
Affleck’s character is Doug MacRay, a bank robber living in a Boston neighborhood known for producing more of his kind per capita than any other borough in the country. He and his childhood buddy, James Coughlin, lead a gang of four that pulls off heists in a variety of disguises. They know their job and do it well, even to the point of dousing the banks they hold up with bleach to eliminate every trace of their presence.
During the robbery that opens
the movie, Coughlin decides to take one of the managers, Claire Keesey, hostage, not because the situation calls for it but because the screenplay tells him to.
“We might need her if the police cause any problems,” he says. Coughlin takes her driver’s license and lets her go, but has second thoughts and begins to talk about “taking care of the problem.”
In one of the film’s many clichés, MacRay actually has a tender heart and intercedes, saying he’ll keep an eye on Keesey. He follows the pretty young woman into a laundromat, where she runs out of quarters and asks him if he can spare some change. The next thing you know, he’s made her laugh and she’s saying “yes” to a date.
The scenes of MacRay and Keesey, who’s still in shock from the robbery, falling in love elevate “The Town” above its hackneyed origins. The scenes of the two of them together have a realism that’s missing in many dramas. Affleck and actress Rebecca Hall seem like two people awkwardly getting to know each other, saying the things people say when they’re nervous on a date, slowly get to know each other and gradually let their guards down.
The quality of the acting in these scenes will surprise people who think Affleck only has a knack for choosing bad movies in which to act. (See “Gigli,” “Surviving Christmas” and “Pearl Harbor.”)
I especially like the moments when each of them desperately ignore the obvious, like when MacRay slips and reveals he knows Keesey owns a Prius, then she accepts his lame excuse for knowing something he shouldn’t.
While Affleck’s direction is solid throughout “The Town,” I felt like The Count in “Sesame Street” as I kept track of the clichés. Does Coughlin eventually find out about MacRay and Keesey? Does MacRay swear he’ll leave town and take Keesey with him? Does Coughlin threaten to kill him if he does? Does Keesey agree to one last job to appease his friend? Will Keesey find out MacRay is the one who kidnapped her and storm out of his life? “One cliché ... Two clichés ... Three clichés ... AH AH AHHH!”
The biggest problem, however, is how Affleck approaches the FBI’s investigation. Now, I like the lead agent, Agent Adam Frawley. He’s good at his job and seems committed to not bending any rules as he does it, but he’s a Class A jerk that doesn’t sneeze at using intimidation and sleazy psychological tactics to get what he wants. But while Frawley is investigating the first robbery, he makes a lucky discovery, and in the next scene, has a full dossier on all four men, complete with their standard operating procedures and pictures of them at a BBQ. He even has strong evidence implicating one of the men to the job that opens the film. Then Frawley turns to his team and says, “But a grand jury will never buy it. Go out there and get me something I can use!” Really?
I guess if Frawley had arrested MacRay early on, the rest of the movie wouldn’t have happened. Still, a better script would have had him come to a slower realization of who his criminals were.
As much as I’m harping on “The Town,” I liked it. Affleck shows promise as a director, especially in the way he develops relationships and establishes a rhythm that keeps the story from getting boring. He also shoots action well. The final shootout reminded me of the highly kinetic and well-choreographed gunplay in Michael Mann’s “Heat.” Affleck has yet to develop a distinct visual style, but between “The Town” and his first directorial effort, “Gone Baby Gone,” it’s clear he’s a filmmaker to watch.
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com. v
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