The Town

[UtahDan]

I actually think he might end up being a good character actor. Have you seen him in Extract?

[YOUTUBE]mcgp3EakgoA[/YOUTUBE]

No, not bad though.

[MarkGrace]

Getting some real positive reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_town/

I'm going to make it tomorrow, hopefully.

[MarkGrace]

If "Heat" and "The Departed" had a baby, the result might come close to The Town, a riveting and explosive crime thriller and one of the year's best pictures.

Ok, I'm going to stop reading reviews that high. I don't want my expectations blown out of proportion.

[Bastage]

Saw it tonight in Tallahassee with Rtfldbtng9th. I don't know how to work the spoiler button so I won't share any details. All I'll say is two thumbs up.

[MarkGrace]

Loved it.

Renner, damn, that guy, he is just absolutely magnetic. I buy into his characters so hard. And surprise of the night goes to Blake Lively. I didn't think there was any way she could be anything other than dreadful. But I thought she really sold her character as well. The chase scene through the tight alleys was just awesome, and the final heist, well, going to spoilers on this one...

Spoiler for spoiler alert:

Fenway Park! F$%@#*&% Fenway Park! How cool is that?! Seriously, very clever idea and a scene that I think could be an absolute classic. I had no idea what was going to happen with it all, and I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.

Small complaints. Who the hell did/chose that score? Man, it was not good, and almost sounded like a slower version of the primary song I Lived In Heaven. Also, I would have ended the movie with her reading the letter in the garden and maybe a shot of him disappearing on the train. To show the hockey rink dedicated to his mom and that final shot of him in Florida was maybe just a bit cheesy -- we knew she was a do-gooder and would have put the money to good use; better to leave it up to our imaginations.

All told, this is my favorite movie of the year so far. (Granted, the best part of movie season is just warming up so we'll see what unfolds)

[Coastal Ute]

After being subjected to The Sum of All Fears, I vowed I would never see another Ben Affleck Movie. I'm going to have to break that vow. The previews look great, and Boston is one of my favorite cities. Damn you Ben Affleck!

The video game is much better than the movie, IMO.

To this day, I still regret sitting through that embarrassingly PC piece of crap. I particularly liked how they changed what was originally Arab terrorists to Nazi's.

[FN Phat]

Loved it.

Renner, damn, that guy, he is just absolutely magnetic. I buy into his characters so hard. And surprise of the night goes to Blake Lively. I didn't think there was any way she could be anything other than dreadful. But I thought she really sold her character as well. The chase scene through the tight alleys was just awesome, and the final heist, well, going to spoilers on this one...

Spoiler for spoiler alert:

Fenway Park! F$%@#*&% Fenway Park! How cool is that?! Seriously, very clever idea and a scene that I think could be an absolute classic. I had no idea what was going to happen with it all, and I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.

Small complaints. Who the hell did/chose that score? Man, it was not good, and almost sounded like a slower version of the primary song I Lived In Heaven. Also, I would have ended the movie with her reading the letter in the garden and maybe a shot of him disappearing on the train. To show the hockey rink dedicated to his mom and that final shot of him in Florida was maybe just a bit cheesy -- we knew she was a do-gooder and would have put the money to good use; better to leave it up to our imaginations.

All told, this is my favorite movie of the year so far. (Granted, the best part of movie season is just warming up so we'll see what unfolds)

My wife and I saw this movie tonight and we both loved it. I was almost convinced to buy a minivan after the chase scene. We didn't know what movie to watch after a dinner at the local sushi spot, so I dropped off my wife and told her to buy tickets to what ever is playing next. I agree with Gracie's review. One of My favorite movies in awhile.

[fusnik]

The last heist, while a super cool premise, was a little much for me. I wish they could have figured put a way to combine the second and third jobs.

The cast was great except I disagree with MG about Blake, she seemed too young and too pretty for this role.

[MarkGrace]

The cast was great except I disagree with MG about Blake, she seemed too young and too pretty for this role.

Then that would be a question of casting. I was surprised by her acting, as I thought she pulled off the role much better than I would have thought. To me she just really felt like that tragic town barfly.

[fusnik]

Then that would be a question of casting. I was surprised by her acting, as I thought she pulled off the role much better than I would have thought. To me she just really felt like that tragic town barfly.

The cast 11 of 12 people perfectly. Id consider that a great cast.

A tragic town barfly, IMO, doesn't look nor sound like she did. She was too young IMO. Originally they had someone older in mind, should have stayed with that thought.

Someone like Beadie Russell.

[MarkGrace]

The cast 11 of 12 people perfectly. Id consider that a great cast.

A tragic town barfly, IMO, doesn't look nor sound like she did. She was too young IMO. Originally they had someone older in mind, should have stayed with that thought.

Someone like Beadie Russell.

I don't see what was wrong with her look. She looked like trailer trash to me and someone who was more worn than her age would suggest.

Amy Ryan is like 40, isn't she? I'm not sure of her exact age, but I'm pretty sure she's older than Affleck and Renner, and she looks much older. I would buy her as Renner's little sister far less than I would someone the age of Lively. Would someone of that maturity look tragic carrying around an infant and saddled into a dead-end life? The fact that she was young and had nowhere to go is exactly what made me feel for her.

But either way, I was surprised by her acting, not casting, and these are still really more points of casting.

[Donuthole]

I didn't mind Lively at all. I thought she was well cast and did a great job in her role. I didn't really care for Rebecca Hall all that much, but everybody else was great, especially Renner. There was a dearth of character development,

I had one gripe about the plot:

Spoiler for WTF:

Krista cracked and told the FBI they were hitting Fenway that day. This set up the entire conflict on the last job and ultimately provided the climax of the movie. But how the hell did Krista know they were hitting Fenway? Am I really supposed to believe that the best bank-robbing crew in modern history is so successful despite the fact that they let their sisters and other loved ones in on their heist plans? That just seemed like a cheap way to create the final "battle".

[MarkGrace]

I didn't mind Lively at all. I thought she was well cast and did a great job in her role. I didn't really care for Rebecca Hall all that much, but everybody else was great, especially Renner. There was a dearth of character development,

I had one gripe about the plot:

Spoiler for WTF:

Krista cracked and told the FBI they were hitting Fenway that day. This set up the entire conflict on the last job and ultimately provided the climax of the movie. But how the hell did Krista know they were hitting Fenway? Am I really supposed to believe that the best bank-robbing crew in modern history is so successful despite the fact that they let their sisters and other loved ones in on their heist plans? That just seemed like a cheap way to create the final "battle".

Spoiler for wtf II:

Affleck should have also been more tipped off by the fact that Lively knew about the necklace. How would you not be seriously concerned about where she heard that?

Were they really supposed to be the best bank-robbing crew in modern history? They all seemed competent, yet dumb and susceptible to the emotion of the Renner character. I think pretty clearly Affleck wasn't about to do those two jobs on his own volition, because they were dumb situations to get into, and he was kind of the brains of the operation. He was strong-armed into them. But I didn't ever see them as some elite bank-robbing crew; they were mostly just kids from the neighborhood that were in over their heads and not really even part of an organzied crime syndicate.

[Donuthole]

Spoiler for wtf II:

Affleck should have also been more tipped off by the fact that Lively knew about the necklace. How would you not be seriously concerned about where she heard that?

Were they really supposed to be the best bank-robbing crew in modern history? They all seemed competent, yet dumb and susceptible to the emotion of the Renner character. I think pretty clearly Affleck wasn't about to do those two jobs on his own volition, because they were dumb situations to get into, and he was kind of the brains of the operation. He was strong-armed into them. But I didn't ever see them as some elite bank-robbing crew; they were mostly just kids from the neighborhood that were in over their heads and not really even part of an organzied crime syndicate.

Spoiler for WTFIII:

I didn't really see them as some elite bank-robbing crew either, until Don Draper seemed to act like this was the best-run crew he'd ever come up against. Perhaps that was the writer's intent, though. To have the FBI on one side thinking this crew was a well-oiled machine, but to have the viewer know that certainly wasn't the case.

That being said, I still think even neighborhood kids robbing banks have the good sense not to tell anyone what their next job is going to be.

[Katy Lied]

I also dislike Ben Affleck. The only movies he is good in are movies that take place in Boston, where he has to affect a boston accent. Then, he's not really acting any more.

Here are the movies he's been good in:

Good Will Hunting
The Departed

He'll probably be good in The Town.