{Movie Review} The Town

The Town
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, John Hamm
Director: Ben Affleck
Rating: R
Genre: Crime Thriller
Run Time:  125 minutes

IMDb / Trailer

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

*Review contains spoilers throughout*

I do realize that this movie came out a long time ago, but I feel like I just have to talk about it. It was the only movie in my Jeremy Renner collection that I hadn't actually seen. And, like all of his other movies, it was amazing. Some things were kind of iffy, but others were really great. I felt like some of the shots were kind of unnecessary, because we would get random looks at tattoos and signs and stuff, and none of them had anything to do with the movie. I also felt like there were almost too many swear words and f-bombs because at times it made me take the scene less seriously. However, the story line was absolutely amazing and the conflict and situation was very difficult to deal with, both for me and the characters. I wasn't sure how this movie would end, and I think that in the back of my mind I knew Jem was going to die, but at the same time I was trying not to think about it. The scene where he dies was very emotional, very surprising, but also (and I know this might sound weird) Jem went out like I think he would have wanted too: still fighting, ready to shoot more cops.

Jeremy Renner (Jem Coughlin)

Jeremy Renner is my favorite actor ever. I am semi in love with him. Not only is he freaking sexy, but he's also an amazing actor. His character, Jem, didn't get much face-time in this movie, but the few scenes he got Jeremy really made count. There was a kind of darkness in Jem, that's for sure, and he was willing to do anything, literally anything. But he also really cared about his gang. That was proven when he shot the man that was going to kill Dougie, his best friend. And also when he yelled “NO” when the guy stood up and was shot through the head. He was a very deep, troubled character, but also funny, and definitely a firecracker.  His basic attitude for the whole movie was "I'm so above this shit".

Ben Affleck

I haven't seen many Ben Affleck movies, but I think he did pretty well in this one. His Boston accent was a little weird at times, so that kind of threw me off, but I think he did a great job. Dougie, his character, is not really a criminal at heart, I don't think. He's really a nice guy who made some wrong choices. He's really emotional and has a big heart. You could tell by the way he looked for his mother when she left, and how he saved Claire in the first robbing and then let her go, then went to make sure she was okay, and fell in love with her. The thing that made the scene where Jem dies so emotional is that Dougie was right there when it happened, he saw it. But he didn't – couldn't – do anything about it.

Rebecca Hall

I have never seen a Rebecca Hall movie before, but think she did a very good job with her character. Claire is the love interest in this movie, but also was kidnapped in the first robbery shown. The way Hall acted and put emotion into her acting and character really depicted the aftermath of that kind of trauma in a very realistic, touching way. I think her reactions to the kidnapping, and also finding out that Dougie was the one who kidnapped her, were very realistic and well done. But the ending was so sad when she says “It's like one of my sunny days” and I knew that meant that another person that she loved would die, meaning Dougie, and when they had to say goodbye it was so sad.

Favorite Scenes

I have two. One is when Dougie and Claire are having lunch together and Jem walks up and he recognizes Claire as the one they kidnapped and then starts talking to her, asking how she met Dougie, where she works, oh yeah that's the bank that was robbed, I read that in the paper, and the whole time Dougie is just shooting daggers at him. Hilarious.

And then, for some reason, the scene when Jem dies is just so good. I think because it is how I think Jem would have wanted to die, and it just had a lot of emotional impact, for some reason. And, I'll admit it, I cried.

Overall

Great movie, great casting, great actors, Jeremy Renner is the sexiest man alive, the end.

5 stars