Saw the movie – The Town yesterday….no not set in one of those generic Towns that one sees in most U.S. cities, with the strip malls, perfectly manicured side-walks, Big Box stores and the obligatory generic “brand name” coffee shops, but a Town named Boston. A Town that still retains some individuality and does not seem to be sold out to corporatization (at least, it does not appear so in the movie.) A Town where you still see people walking on the streets and not driving in their cars. A Town where you still see wild flowers and over-grown grass and not perfectly planted petunias straight out of the Martha Stewart Home and Garden collection. I was floored by the European feel to The Town; very few of them left in the U.S.
I am sure by now you have guessed that since I have devoted one full paragraph to the geography of The Town, the USP of the movie is The Town where it is shot-BOSTON. Ben Affleck made The Town the central character of the movie and named it aptly.
The storyline, although narrated well is a true and tried formula for a successful heist movie. It is a concoction of Point Break and The Professional (especially the scene where Affleck ducks the Feds wearing a cop uniform.)
Affleck has good control over his facial featuresand of course is quite pleasing to the eye. Jeremy Renner brings a “pent up intensity waiting to explode,” to his role-possible remnants from Hurt Locker?
To appeal to the masses the required humorwas added by the sentence “Go @##%%* yourself” said by thief (Affleck) to the FBI agent. Of course, the entire audience unanimously gaffawed….an insight to how low brow humor appeals to the masses.
All in all, entertaining and worth a watch on a Sunday afternoon when Fargo is not playing for the 67th time on TV.
