Overview
Boston bank robber Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) falls for a woman his gang had previously taken hostage after feigning a chance meeting with her to ensure that she can't identify them in Affleck's adaptation of author Chuck Hogan's novel PRINCE OF THIEVES. The son of a tough Charlestown, MA thief, Doug passed on his chance to walk the straight and narrow in favor of becoming a career bank robber. Not only is Doug's crew one of the most ruthless in Boston, but they're also one of the best; they never leave a trace of evidence, and always make a clean break. Over the years, Doug's fearless partners in crime have become something of a surrogate family to him; Jem (Jeremy Renner), the most dangerous of the bunch, is the closest thing Doug has ever had to a brother. But a divide begins to open between the two career criminals when Jem takes bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall) hostage during a particularly tense heist, and the group subsequently discovers that she hails from their own tight-knit suburb. When Jem proposes that the gang make an effort to find out just how much Claire recalls about the crime, Doug fears that his volatile partner may do more harm than good and volunteers himself for the job. Later, Doug turns on the charm while pretending to bump into Claire by chance, and becomes convinced that she doesn't suspect him of being the same man who just robbed her bank. As the feds turn up the heat on the gang, Doug finds himself falling for Claire, and searching desperately for a means of cutting his ties to his criminal past. But with each passing day, Jem grows increasingly suspicious of Doug's true motivations. Now caught between two worlds with no chance of turning back, Doug realizes that his only hope for finding a happy future is to betray the only family he's ever known.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Ben Affleck - Director
Ben Affleck
Jeremy Renner
Rebecca Hall
Jon Hamm
Blake Lively
Titus Welliver
Chris Cooper
Pete Postlethwaite
Details
- Format: Blu-ray (New Box Art)
- Run Time: 125
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 883929523849
- Genre: Action
- Rating: R (strong violence, pervasive language, sexuality, nudity and drug use)
- Release Date: December 2010
Movie Reviews
Reviews:
4.5 stars out of 5 -- "This taut story about a guy trying to get out of the criminal life into which he was born is loaded with action, but it's also so smartly written that a complex character study rests at its heart." - 09/10/2010 Box Office
"Affleck excels at capturing the insularity of the locale..." - 09/08/2010 Hollywood Reporter
4 stars out of 5 -- "THE TOWN is full of great exchanges, great scenes, all of them infused with authenticity." - 10/01/2010 Total Film
"[A] rich, dark, pulpy mess of entanglements that fulfills all the requirements of the genre, and it is told with an ease and gusto that make the pulp tasty." -- Grade: A- - 09/09/2010 Entertainment Weekly
3 stars out of 4 -- "Affleck has the stuff of a real director....It's an effective thriller, he works closely with actors, he has a feel for pacing." - 09/15/2010 Chicago Sun-Times
"Affleck has a keen eye for cinematic stories and wisely chooses one set in a city he knows intimately. He has an evident knack for orchestrating involving action scenes." - 09/17/2010 USA Today
"[A] fast-paced, character-driven heist movie that combines robberies with romance and solidifies Affleck's reputation as an actor with a genuine gift for directing." - 09/17/2010 Los Angeles Times
"[Affleck's] second feature, THE TOWN, is a looser and more sprawling affair, more conventional, but also more assured." - 09/16/2010 A.V. Club
"Ben Affleck works both sides of the camera to impressive effect in THE TOWN, a dramatic thriller that fulfills its considerable ambitions." - 09/17/2010 Wall Street Journal
"The movie is as slick and tightly constructed as Affleck's debut, GONE BABY GONE....Affleck shoots each heist like the performance it is..." - 09/17/2010 Movieline
3 stars out of 4 -- "It's a smart, bold genre exercise that's enormous fun to watch, harking back to gritty urban thrillers of the 1970s with an assured sense of tone and style." - 09/17/2010 Washington Post
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[A] gripping human drama disguised as a blazing heist film that comes on like gangbusters." - 09/15/2010 Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 5 -- "There is a juddering, brilliantly choreographed FRENCH CONNECTION-style car chase through crowded streets and narrow alleyways..." - 11/01/2010 Uncut
"There's a strong sense of milieu....The set-piece heists and car chases are executed with impressive skill and pacing..." - 11/01/2010 Sight and Sound
