The titular 'Town' is Charlestown, an area in Boston across the river from the city's downtown. As an opening text tells us, its square mile has been the breeding ground for more bank robbers than anywhere else in America. The story focuses on a group of four such bank robbers, led by Affleck's Doug MacRay. Soon after one heist, Affleck finds himself drawn to the manager of the bank, played by Rebecca Hall, striking up a romantic relationship while she remains unaware of his misdeeds. The hint of melodrama inherent in that synopsis indicates one of the film's only real failings: it's sometimes a little too far-fetched to truly convince. Otherwise, the depiction of the life of Boston criminals reeks of seedy authenticity; these are not guys who live millionaires' lifestyles, preferring to blow most of their misbegotten cash on drugs or booze.
Affleck plays both the de facto leader and the most level-headed of the bunch. It's partly due to the nature of his character - he's mostly detached and low-key - but he's thoroughly eclipsed on the acting front by Jeremy Renner as the posse's resident loose cannon, Jem. Renner is a screen psycho in the best sense, never overplaying the character's volatility but also never leaving you in any doubt that he could explode into violence at any time. A scene in which Jem uncovers Doug and Claire's tryst is memorably tense mainly due to Renner's dangerous presence. Hall hits the right notes too with her character, sufficiently vulnerable but never helpless; she's only hamstrung by her character's slightly implausible actions near the end (which do admittedly work in a dramatic context).
The film is punctuated by three main action sequences, roughly at the start, middle and end, all heists in differing circumstances and all very well handled by the actor-director. In particular a car chase and lengthy climactic shootout are superbly edited and paced. The strength of these scenes and some of the minor ones goes some way to compensate for a choppy pace that flags from time to time. Some characters also seem underserved, such as Jon Hamm's FBI Agent Frawley and Blake Lively's Krista; the problem is addressed somewhat in the extended cut included on this disc, but the pacing issue is never fully resolved. Still, it remains an accomplished and assured work from an emerging talent who clearly has much more to give both in front and behind the camera.
Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: Extended Cut, Triple Play / Discs: 1 BD, 1 DVD / Distributor: Warner Bros.
Presentation
The Town's Blu-ray transfer is as solid as they come: nice rich colours (particularly blues - Affleck mentions in the commentary that he shot with tungsten film stock), healthy contrast, and light grain. It shows how good file compression is getting that despite a low bitrate - sometimes barely double that of a DVD - the image exhibits no noticeable compression-related shortcomings. The soundtrack is not the most enveloping, but it's crisp and clear, and the soundfield does open up appropriately when bullets start to fly.
Extras
An apparently meagre selection looks more substantial if one includes the extended cut as a bonus feature (it's not available on DVD). 25 minutes longer, it's not an improvement but is an interesting alternate version nonetheless. Mainly, more screentime is given to the love interest plotline. Ben Affleck's commentary, duplicated on both cuts but edited accordingly, is excellent - the sort of great commentary that can enhance your view of the film it accompanies. Six "Focus Points", half an hour in total, give a glimpse inside the production but more would have been welcome.
Summary
A satisfying action film for grown-ups: a rare breed indeed in recent years. The Town dodges its shortcomings through the passion and commitment of its cast and crew.
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