The Town (2010)

Seen on December 27th, 2010

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. [imdb]

Nominated for 1 Oscar:

Best Supporting Actor: Jeremy Renner

I don't think I've ever written this, though I've surely thought about it: Ben Affleck is definitely a better director than an actor. Both The Town and Gone Baby Gone were executed with a certain degree of easiness, both so focused on the story, which made for a surprisingly subtle, efficient direction. The Town has its share of problems, but some elements of greatness really stand out.

From the point of an action movie, it's constructed the right way. The 2 or 3 big action scenes are entertaining, dynamic, impressive, and I still remember them with a lot of admiration. Jon Hamm is fine, Rebecca Hall is pretty good, Blake Lively is surprising, but the best performance comes by far from Jeremy Renner, who seems perfect for this role and gives a certain likeability to a more of a villain character. His performance is worthy of the nomination. Ben Affleck, on the other side, keeps his acting a bit too low-key and the writing choices he makes with the ending of the film are confusing to me: he should've ended it on a much more meaningful note.

My rating for the film: 7.5/10. A good action flick.