T's Take on THE TOWN

You know what's awesome?

Violence.

There were a bunch of gunfights in this movie, really more than was necessary, but whatever. There were dudes with huge guns shooting at cops. And the cops? They were like, shooting back.

There's really not much to say here. If you saw the trailer, you saw the movie; the plotline is about as formulaic and baseline as it gets. The characters are exactly as deep as they need to be, which is to say that they aren't, and by the time you've met all of them it's not hard to tell who's going to make it out alive.

You mean the underdeveloped nobody third-wheel driver dies? And so does the bad guy? And so does the third-strike "I'm never going back to jail!" hardass with a penchant for unnecesary cruelty? There are no twists, per say, but again, that isn't to say that any were needed. This thing could only have gone one way, and though I was never surprised, I can't say I was ever disappointed either. The odds are good that if you find yourself walking into a theater for The Town you know exactly what you're there for, and you're going to get it, too.

Ben Affleck is what he is. It's like when I first saw Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity and thought to myself, "Wow, this guy can actually carry a serious role." I guess I had that moment with Ben in The Town, but in a different sense. His character is this beaten down ex-drunk fuckup with nothing to live for and a bunch of leftover friends/acquaintences that really do him more harm than good. He's got this really convincing washed-out unable-to-care disconnect that I as the viewer couldn't help but sympathize with. He's got this depressing 'poor-me' attitude as somebody who goes through life totally unloved because he doesn't love himself. Which suits him.

I guess what I'm saying is that Ben Affleck has found his place in my life, finally, and I could watch him go uncared for all day. For the first time he subtracted nothing from the work overall and fit in nicely with his surroundings.

Watch The Town.