The Town

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Release Date: September 17, 2010

Plot Summary: Set in Boston, this classic love story involves a boy who meets a girl while he's robbing the bank she works at. The masked boy kidnaps the girl in order to get away, then lets her go. Boy later falls in love with girl, but girl doesn't realize who the boy is. All the while, the FBI is hot on the boy's trail as he wrestles with the decison to leave his life of crime.

I'm a sucker for any movie set in Boston. I know it's cheesy, but I love recognizing certain locations. The novelty wore off a long time ago for people living in NYC or LA, I'm sure. I'm also very critical of movies set in Boston since I love listening to actors butcher the accent. There's a certain flair behind it that goes beyond just dropping your R's. Luckily, Ben Affleck grew up in Cambridge, so he's familiar with these kinds of nuances. Already, I'm a bit peeved at the bad rep Charlestown is receiving. First, I haven't heard of 300 bank robberies occuring in Boston per year. Second, Charlestown rocks. Yes, it was a pretty rough neighborhood maybe 15 years ago, but thanks to gentrification, it's a really pretty neighborhood with a lot going on. Yeah, there are still a couple projects, but what urban area doesn't have at least one or two? Third, "bank robbery capital of the world"... really? Really?? I find that a bit hard to believe.

Ben Affleck movies are a bit hit or miss with me. Of course, we all know "Affleck was the BOMB in Phantoms, yo" and almost everything he made in the 90's is golden... except for Forces of Nature. But then he let me down in the zeroes with mostly bad to mediocre films. I did like Boiler Room though. I do hope this ends up being one of his better ones though. After all, the last time he put on a Boston accent, we got Good Will Hunting. Interestingly enough, he is also the director of The Town. I haven't seen the other movie he directed, Gone Baby Gone, but I heard some good things about it. He's still a new-ish director, but I'm curious to see what he can pull off. We all know he can write well. Hell, he has the Oscar to prove it. He is listed as a contributing writer, so we'll see.

Then we have Jem, played by Jeremy Renner, who's pretty much a certified badass thanks to The Hurt Locker. He was great in that film, and I'm really interested to see what he can do here. His character's name makes me giggle since the 80's cartoon of the same name ruined it forever. Someone else who caught my eye in the trailer was Blake Lively. Gossip Girl is a guilty pleasure of mine and I'm curious to see Serena Van der Woodsen in a more adult role. I hope it turns out she actually has some decent acting chops and makes me forget about her being an Upper East Side socialite.

The problem with this trailer is that I'm afraid it gave too much of the movie away. We already saw characters engaged in police shootouts, professing their love for one another, and talking with the FBI in an interrogation room. What else could there possibly be besides just the ending? I also can't help but get the sense that this is The Departed-lite. Either way, I won't rush to the theater to see this, but if it gets decent enough reviews, I'll certainly be checking it out.

The Verdict: In the theater