THE TOWN

RYAN: The Town is the second directorial effort from Ben Affleck, and it’s arguably as good as his first film, Gone Baby Gone.

CAROLINE: I think it’s even better; maybe a little more refined. I think we’re all just so surprised at what a good director Ben Affleck is! This is a totally compelling and watchable cops-and-robbers movie that takes place in Boston, and I think it helps that Ben Affleck makes movies about what he knows, having grown up in the area. Not that he knows about robbing banks, but he’s from Boston and he really captures the essence of the city. It’s like Boston is a character in the movie the same way New York City was on Sex and the City.

RYAN: What most impressed me about this movie was the cinematography. I don’t know if I should credit Ben or his director of photography, but some of the shots were so freakin’ good. There was great movement and camera angles, which even reminded me of my all-time favorite director, Robert Zemeckis. And that’s high praise coming from me.

CAROLINE: The whole movie was impressive to me, starting with the amazing cast. You’ve got multiple Oscar nominees/winners between Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Ben himself, TV stars like Jon Hamm and Blake Lively and then the soon-to-be-Oscar-nominated for something, Rebecca Hall. They were each so immersed in their roles that you didn’t even feel like you were watching these actors; you felt like you were just watching the characters. I was totally into it from start to finish.

RYAN: Though I couldn’t tell if Blake Lively was doing a great job portraying a drugged up whore, or if it was just really good eye makeup.

CAROLINE: [laughs’ The eye makeup and the ratty hair helped for sure. But she’s only in a few scenes, and I thought she was decent.

RYAN: And Rebecca Hall, oh my God. She may not be the most beautiful woman in Hollywood, but she’s got serious talent.

CAROLINE: I love her. She was so good in Please Give earlier this year, and her American accent is as flawless as Kate Winslet’s. I’m not sure why she’s been uglified in her last couple of movies though. She was so pretty in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

RYAN: This movie’s story works so effectively, and it makes you simultaneously root for and against the bank robbers. You’re kinda rooting for the FBI to catch them, but you’re playing both sides.

CAROLINE: I definitely found myself hoping the bad guys wouldn’t get caught, which isn’t the normal movie-going experience. It’s mostly because a lot of the movie is told from the robbers’ perspective, so you feel like you know them and what their lives are like and you want them to get away with it even though you know it’s wrong and they deserve to get caught. It makes for a really fun, tense movie.

RYAN: There are also some really thrilling action scenes. The movie starts with a bang and then there’s a great robbery scene with the nun masks and an innovative car chase scene that’s shot really well.

CAROLINE: It’s a really exciting movie. Total edge-of-your-seat entertainment. It’s a heist movie but you don’t feel like you’ve seen it a million times before. And can we discuss the insane shape Ben Affleck got in for this role? He’s more ripped than The Situation!

RYAN: Yeah, that workout scene was crazy.
CAROLINE: I think I gasped aloud at his body. It was just so unexpected.

RYAN: I have to admit I was a tiny bit bored during some of the quieter, romantic scenes between Ben and Rebecca Hall. I think Ben is still the weakest actor of the bunch.

CAROLINE: I thought he did a great job though, in every aspect. He never annoyed me. And I loved the scenes between him and Rebecca Hall. I was never bored during this movie. It was so tense! The only thing that amuses me about him is that he loves to play these tough Boston types from the wrong side of the tracks a la this movie and Good Will Hunting, when in actuality, he’s from Cambridge. We get it, Ben – you like doing the Southie accent.

RYAN: I bet a lot of the extras in this movie were friends of Ben’s from growing up.

CAROLINE: And much like in Gone Baby Gone, they used real Charlestown residents and even criminals and ex-cops to play a lot of the tiny background roles just to add to the authenticity. Or as one character in the movie says, “authentitousness.”

— BOTTOM LINE —

RYAN: This movie is really great entertainment. It was exciting across the board, and it’s almost Oscar worthy in the vein of The Departed. I could totally see myself watching it again, and I fully recommend it.

CAROLINE: I would love to see this movie again; I’m sure I’d pick up on a lot more intricacies of the story. I can’t decide who I thought was the best – Jeremy Renner is so amazing and Oscar worthy, as is Rebecca Hall. Jon Hamm is just so easy on the eyes, and he does a great job too. It’s a really taut thriller/heist movie that I truly think everyone will like. It will appeal to all ages (except kids, of course), all races, both sexes, etc. I think it’s going to do really well.

— RATING —