The Town (2010)

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

Director:

Ben Affleck

Writers:

Peter Craig (screenplay), Ben Affleck (screenplay),

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Affleck	...	Doug MacRay
Rebecca Hall	...	Claire Keesey
Jon Hamm	...	FBI S.A. Adam Frawley
Jeremy Renner	...	James Coughlin
Blake Lively	...	Krista Coughlin
Slaine	...	Albert 'Gloansy' Magloan
Owen Burke	...	Desmond Elden
Titus Welliver	...	Dino Ciampa
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Fergus 'Fergie' Colm
Chris Cooper	...	Stephen MacRay
Dennis McLaughlin	...	Rusty
Corena Chase	...	Agent Quinlan
Brian Scannell	...	Henry
Kerri Dunbar	...	Henry's Girl
Tony V.	...	Vericom Crew Chief (as Tony V)

Storyline

The Charlestown neighborhood of Boston is renowned for churning out a high number of armed robbers, generation after generation. These robbers never leave their Charlestown life on their own volition, the neighborhood where there is an unwritten code to protect that lifestyle. Such robbers include friends Doug MacRay, James Coughlin, Albert 'Gloansy' Magloan and Desmond Elden. Doug and James in particular treat each other like family, as the Coughlins have realistically been as such to Doug since Doug's mother ran off and Doug's father, Stephen MacRay, was sent to prison. James' single mother sister, the drugged out Krista Coughlin, and Doug have a casual sexual relationship. The foursome carry out a mostly successful bank robbery, but due to circumstances take the bank manager, Claire Keesey, hostage for a short period before releasing her physically unharmed. They find out that Claire lives in Charlestown, so they want to ensure that she did not see anything that could incriminate ...

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Plot Keywords:

heist | bank manager | bank robbery | prison | driver's license | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to the bank robbery capital of America.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [France] Warner Bros. [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prince of Thieves

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,005,039 (UK) (24 September 2010)

Gross:

$92,173,235 (USA) (31 December 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, GK Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 150 min (DVD extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel, Krista was supposedly to be in her early 30s, but Ben Affleck cast Blake Lively mainly because he was bowled over by her performance in her previous film, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.

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Goofs

When Doug MacRay is talking to his father on the phone across a pane of glass in prison, a camera shot that focuses on Doug shows a reflection of the elder MacRay with his mouth clearly moving, although neither character is speaking at the time.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Doug MacRay: [narrating] Driver's name is Arthur Shea. Former Metro Police officer, fifty-seven years old. Soon as his partner leaves with the coal bag, Artie cracks a Herald, and he don't look up 'til the guy gets back. Marty Maguire. Cummins Armored courier. Five-ten, two-twenty, fifty-two years old. Picks up every Wednesday and Friday at exactly 8:12, makes a hundred and ten dollars a day, carries a Sig nine. And he's about to get robbed.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Charlestown's reputation as a breeding ground for armed robbers is authentic. However, this film all but ignores the great majority of the residents of Charlestown, past and present, who are the same good and true people found most anywhere. This film is dedicated to them.

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #6.34 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Whatcha Say"
Written by Kisean Anderson, Jason Desrouleaux, Imogen Heap, Jonathan Rotem
Performed by Jason Derulo
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
Contains a sample of "Hide and Seek"
Performed by Imogen Heap
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Limited and J Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Affleck's second matches realism of the first and the fine ensemble carries the rest

Ben Affleck's second feature film as a director -- if nothing else -- proves he's no fluke. In all the ways his sincere and revealing debut "Gone Baby Gone" succeeds, so does "The Town." Both are Boston-based crime dramas that are both touchingly dramatic at times yet gripping at others. More impressive with his work on "The Town," however, is that it proves he could just as easily go on to direct an action blockbuster as he could an Oscar-winning drama.

It starts with the cast and the performances he gets from them. In 2007, he helped Amy Ryan to a supporting actress nomination, and that's ignoring the other talents in the film such as Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan and Ed Harris. In "The Town," he gets Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner in his first major film since his breakout in "The Hurt Locker" and Jon Hamm in his first major film since TV's "Mad Men" took off. He also gets a pair of up-and-comers in Rebecca Hall and "Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively. And that's not to mention Pete Postelthwaite and Chris Cooper. Next to "Inception," it's the best ensemble cast of the year.

Based on the Chuck Hogan novel "Prince of Thieves," the film follows a team of bank robbers from Charlestown, an area notorious for grooming the best at intercepting armored cars and taking down banks. As with "Gone Baby Gone," also based on a novel (by Dennis Lehane), the city of Boston and the people and culture are as important to Affleck as the plot. He's sure to let shots of the Charlestown bridge and Fenway Park soak in amidst the ever-building pinch the main characters are in.

Doug MacRay (Affleck) and his buddy Jim (Renner) and a couple others pull off a bank job in the opening scene, but when it doesn't go exactly as planned, they're forced to kidnap the bank manager (Hall). To make sure she didn't see anything and can hand them on a platter to the feds (led by Jon Hamm's Special Agent Frawley), Doug trails her, only to find himself falling for her.

"The Town" is one of those crime dramas/bank-job action films that while not revelatory for the genre, executes everything well and sticks to a character-driven story in order to stay meaningful. Perhaps the reason it works so well is because it floats in between the drama, never becoming too much of a guns 'n robbers flick, but also not slipping into crime melodrama for too long. Affleck's performance as MacRay acts in accordance; it's tastefully understated and he lets go of the machismo that has marred a few of his previous roles.

The film also has an unexpected but much appreciated sense of humor. In a mile-a-minute crime drama/thriller, you don't expect to laugh the way you will in "The Town," which speaks even more to the writing and Affleck's versatility. Even if there are some plot conventions and no-surprise characters (as good as Hamm is, he's playing every other quick-witted FBI guy in films), the dialogue is sharp, the story is exciting and the way we are so easily able to see things from MacRay's perspective as the bank robber who wants out makes up for any use of convention as a crutch.

There's no doubt that if "The Town" becomes a success that studios will seek out Affleck for some more high-profile projects and it will certainly be interesting to see how he handles material not rooted in Boston sub-culture. As long as he continues to get such memorable performances out of his actors, he'll be doing things on the other end of the camera for a long time to come.

~Steven C

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