Movie Review-The Town

When one person directs, co-writes and stars in a movie, he normally has his way with it.Ben Affleck does all this for The Town. He stars as Doug MacRay, a professional bank robber who falls in love with a former hostage (Rebecca Hall).This creates multiple conflicts, putting him and his crew at much greater risk of capture and driving him to leave the business, much to the chagrin of his boss, “The Florist” (Pete Postlewaite).This film has a great deal going for it. It has appeal for every audience with enough action, romance and drama to satisfy anyone looking for one of each of these base elements, but not so much as to put off anyone who finds an element undesirable.

The acting is also tremendous. Affleck heads a cast that includes Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Hall and a surprisingly dark performance from Blake Lively.

With a solid cast, a good script and a sufficiently complex plot, The Town is a great film that almost everyone who sees it will enjoy.

The film does not, however, deserve the overwhelming critical acclaim it is receiving. Just because a lot of people like it doesn’t mean a lot of people liked it that much.

While the negative reviews are few and far between, review aggregates give it marks slightly lower than that would indicate. In spite of the film’s wide appeal, it’s only been given three stars.

It’s hard to say what is holding The Town back. Some complaints have been lodged about the script being riddled with clichés and that Affleck has the camera focused a little too squarely on himself.

The scope of the movie is also at fault. It tries to be an action movie and a love story and a drama all at once and doesn’t commit enough to any of these to be competent within that genre.

The Town is a good movie but seems to be trying to be all things to all people. It carries itself around like a life-changing event and, really, it just isn’t.