The Town

It is more than obvious that this is Affleck looking up in awe at Mann’s Heat. And it is already clear that he definitely has the talent to film a similar, timeless masterpiece. The Town is not yet that masterpiece, not even in the extended version (I haven’t seen the regular one, but I certainly wouldn’t cut even a minute off the longer one). For that this is too much of a Heat beta version 0.5, but... But this is the only negative I can think of. (12/06/2010)

We’ve seen this scheme many times before, and sometimes better (at one point even the main character watches "the" bit on TV), but I like Affleck's sympathetic direction, which doesn't rush the archetypal characters through the plot, but without unnecessary subterfuge, matter-of-factly, and engagingly. The fact that at times it is too tightly gripped in the clenches of tired templates is unfortunate, especially in the moments when the more adept viewer can guess the next steps of the characters before they do. Regardless, that certain old-fashioned style only serves it well. I’m looking forward to Affleck's next film immensely. (12/08/2010)

The similarity of the plot with Heat bothered me. Otherwise, The Town is a film that needs to mature a bit, just like its more famous predecessors. Heist crime is a genre that cannot be devoured like candy and watched every Saturday throughout the first year, everything needs to be “felt” somehow. And the bluish camera filters, the behaviour of the main characters, the sense of their actions, as well as the weapons, the “mafia sector”, and other things around – they are directly tied to the time when the film was made, and only with the passage of time and the addition of a bit of sentiment and perspective can one truly enjoy it. Right now, The Town is somewhat similar to a young wine, immature somehow. It is a classic story, but Ben Affleck has heart and it shows in every other shot. As a film, The Town is well executed, the action is gripping, and the catharsis is not lacking either. And do people know, or foresee, how it will all end? Can we have a variation in such a laid-out film that we haven't seen somewhere else already? Right now, I think we have exhausted almost everything. Don’t expect something original, better focus on other qualities in the given genre, and this film undoubtedly has them. (12/24/2010)

Ben’s Town is precision work like the robberies that take place in it. Not that the story is some staggering gem, but everything simply falls in its place and it flows by nicely. The action is first rate, Ben has studied the work of Mann and Greengrass and it must be said that he’s done a damn good job. He should concentrate on the action genre from now on. The casting is superb. I’m a Jon Hamm fan and I think it’s great that at last he got a little more room than usual and rocked, and his partner was the man in black from Lost, which is a nice surprise. Jerry Renner is slowly but surely working his way up to the top (the new M:I will certainly get him there) and then there’s Ben... Ben is a good actor, but he needs a firm director’s hand and he clearly has one. Keep up the good work. Maybe they could cook up something with Matt Damon again. Maybe something with action. Maybe something like Bourne. :) Any questions? No? Great. Let’s go. (12/04/2010)

Seen in the extended version --- I struggled with my final rating until the last minute. But I'm faaar from rating this brilliantly directed ride below average, on the grounds that it's all too idealized, predictable, emotional to the point of revulsion in places, and that Affleck "just doesn't have it in him". He delivers more than perfectly in terms of craft and if he can’t keep from some more emotionally intense and at the same time simpler moments here and there :)), what the hell. More than well shot action (the very opening ambush scene is breathtaking), proportionately developed psychology of the main characters (not too "deep" but not too simple or ridiculous), Elswit's excellent cinematography, and Affleck's thorough direction – for me it was enough. :) 90% and I'll see what I think the second time around. (01/02/2011)