When, in 1998, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won the original screenplay Oscar for the wonderful Good Will Hunting, many people wondered if they would go on to write other films or if they would turn their attention to acting full time.  For a while there it looked like they did the latter but in recent years Ben Affleck has gone back to his roots, penning such films as Gone Baby Gone and The Town.

The Town is set in Affleck’s home city, Boston, where he plays Doug MacRay, the son of a bank robber. Having failed at his dream of becoming an ice hockey star, Doug joins with his three friends, including his life long friend James, and starts robbing money trucks and banks.

The films opening sequence is a bank robbery which is fast and furious from the start.  We are introduced to our main characters when they are wearing masks and so you are not sure who is who, it draws you in.  It is clear from this early point that Doug is not a violent man, merely a man who finds himself trained and talented in a violent world.  This is in stark contrast to James, played superbly by Jeremy Renner, who has already spent 9 years behind bars and looks like he would be up for anything.

Doug finds himself trying to balance his desire to be free of his life and to learn the lessons of his father’s incarceration, but he is trapped into doing one big job for his friends.  Can he walk away or will his loyalty to his friends keep him trapped in this life till he is dead or tracked down by the FBI’s Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm)?  To complicate things further Doug finds himself having feelings for the girl he held at gun point during his last robbery.

Affleck and Renner are outstanding as the two friends who grew up together but have grown to see things very differently.  There is sincere emotion and struggle between the two as it becomes more likely that Doug will leave.  Affleck’s direction of the film allows the characters to shine through and even though the piece is filled with car chases and shoot outs you leave the cinema genuinely moved.

It’s an excellent story and cast and Affleck pulls it all together beautifully.  Not to be missed.

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