The Town

Name: The Town
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: September 17, 2010
Duration: 125 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall

2010

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 572 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 572 Ratings

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The Town

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: September 17, 2010 | R

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall

Summary: There are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year. And most of the professionals live in a one-square-mile neighborhood called Charlestown. One of them is Doug MacRay, but he is not cut from the same cloth as his fellow thieves. Unlike them, Doug had a chance at success, a chance to escape following in his father's criminal footsteps.There are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year. And most of the professionals live in a one-square-mile neighborhood called Charlestown. One of them is Doug MacRay, but he is not cut from the same cloth as his fellow thieves. Unlike them, Doug had a chance at success, a chance to escape following in his father's criminal footsteps. Instead, he became the leader of a crew of ruthless bank robbers, who pride themselves on taking what they want and getting out clean. The only family Doug has are his partners in crime, especially Jem, who, despite his dangerous, hair-trigger temper, is the closest thing Doug ever had to a brother. However, everything changed on the gang's last job when Jem briefly took a hostage: bank manager Claire Keesey. When they discover Claire lives in Charlestown, Jem gets nervous and wants to check out what she might have seen. Knowing what Jem is capable of, Doug takes charge. He seeks out Claire, who has no idea that their encounter is not by chance or that this charming stranger is one of the men who terrorized her only days before. As his relationship with Claire deepens into a passionate romance, Doug wants out of this life and the town. But with the Feds closing in and Jem questioning his loyalty, Doug realizes that getting out will not be easy and, worse, may put Claire in the line of fire. Any choices he once had have boiled down to one: betray his friends or lose the woman he loves. The Town is a dramatic thriller about robbers and cops, friendship and betrayal, love and hope, and escaping a past that has no future.(Warner Bros. Pictures)… Expand

Director: Ben Affleck

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 125 min

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Critic Reviews

Lisa Schwarzbaum

A rich, dark, pulpy mess of entanglements that fulfills all the requirements of the genre, and is told with an ease and gusto that make the pulp tasty. Read full review

Peter Travers

Affleck and Hall make this unlikely love story palpably moving. And Renner (The Hurt Locker) is dynamite - he radiates ferocity and feeling. Read full review

Caryn James

Affleck directed, stars in, and co-wrote The Town, a suspenseful, fiercely paced movie about bank robbers that is also about love, brotherhood, and the desperate need to escape a crooked life. It proves that "Gone Baby Gone," his accomplished directing debut, was no fluke. Read full review

Steven Rea

Affleck is more interested in the people in the midst of the action than he is in the action itself, and that gives this accomplished genre piece considerable and compelling depth. Read full review

Amy Biancolli

A first-class genre entry stacked with dandy performances and some crackerjack action to boot. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Everything is here. It's an effective thriller, he (Affleck) works closely with actors, he has a feel for pacing. Yet I persist in finding chases and gun battles curiously boring. Read full review

Keith Uhlich

There's more than a few things off in this tale of a disillusioned professional thief (Affleck, dull), his unlikely inamorata (Hall, wasted) and the determined FBI agent (Hamm, solid) out to apprehend him. Read full review

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User Reviews

moviehead

Oct 4, 2010

Wow, this movie is an absolute 12!!! By far the best movie I've seen in 10 years. It's simply riveting. Run, don't walk, to see it. I smell an Oscar! We are going to see it again.

6 of 9 users found this helpful63

Paint

Oct 17, 2010

The movie was a little slow about 75% of the way through but that is the only complaint. Great cast. Fantastic story. Even better action. Might not be completely plausable but that is why it makes such a great movie. I would advise making plans to go see this.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

tallmanwriting

Dec 27, 2011

Ben Affleck has made another exceptional crime movie, following up Gone Baby Gone with this gem that takes place in the town he loves so much -- Boston. Affleck directs and stars in this story about Charlestown, a Boston neighborhood where bank robbin' runs in the family. Jeremy Renner isBen Affleck has made another exceptional crime movie, following up Gone Baby Gone with this gem that takes place in the town he loves so much -- Boston. Affleck directs and stars in this story about Charlestown, a Boston neighborhood where bank robbin' runs in the family. Jeremy Renner is phenomenal. Affleck himself is very very good. I didn't expect to love this movie but I loved it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TheGorilla

Dec 10, 2010

honestly, i expected more..although it didn't bring anything new to the silver screen, the movie was enjoyable, but when you have set the bar with inception-like movies it's really hard to be blown out with this film...the acting is great, a great cast but i feel that something ishonestly, i expected more..although it didn't bring anything new to the silver screen, the movie was enjoyable, but when you have set the bar with inception-like movies it's really hard to be blown out with this film...the acting is great, a great cast but i feel that something is missing..i'm not a fan of the love story in the movie, but i enjoyed the action scenes and their tensity..i wish the characters had a better connection with the viewers....… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 24, 2021

This is a long and somewhat complicated movie - it features plenty of action, some fight/gun scenes and car chases whilst also maintaining a pretty strong plot, as we start to get a better insight into Doug's family and troubled past while he tries to also maintain a semi-normal relationshipThis is a long and somewhat complicated movie - it features plenty of action, some fight/gun scenes and car chases whilst also maintaining a pretty strong plot, as we start to get a better insight into Doug's family and troubled past while he tries to also maintain a semi-normal relationship with Claire.

There's alot of violence and some particularly strong language in the movie, which is pretty prominent and as such I thought I ought to mentiont that quite soon into my review, so consider yourself warned, this isn't for those who get faint a the sight of blood, although having said that, there are more graphic movies around. I thought this movie was quite good as it had an interesting story behind it, it wasn't simply violence for entertainments sake or not entirely - the relationship between Doug and Claire and the truths Doug finds about his past slowly develop as the movie continues. I found the story a bit confusing in parts in terms of keeping track of the different characters and what their motives were and I also thought it was generally quite long, at a little over two hours in length, although I dislike when movies try to squeeze too much into a short running time and your left wondering what the heck it was all about, so I feel I can't criticise it too much for playing the story out.

Its certainly quite a tense movie, with Doug having to try and lead a double life and those in his team of fellow robbers not trusting him knowing that he's let Claire, the only witness who could be able to identify them as the culprits, get so close to him. Infact at one stage, she says that she could probably identify the robbers by the sound of their voice, although she says this to Doug, who responds that it may not be as easy as she thinks(!). Affleck does quite a good job of portraying the bank robber with a conscience, who questions his past and potentially puts alot on the line - it may seem a little corny but I felt he did give a decent performance as someone re-evaluating things, although it takes a while for the conclusion to be reached but its clear that he's the main leader of the criminal gang he's involved with and he does well acting out this somewhat conflicted character - he's not shy to show his frustrations at times while also seeming genuinely interested in what he learns of Claires background. I'd also like to point out that this movie features the late Pete Postelthwaite as Fergus or 'Fergie' (no, not THAT Fergie lol well either of 'em) Colm, who reveals some painful home truths to Doug. Another piece of trivia worth highlighting is that Ben Affleck not only stars as one of the main characters but he also co-wrote the screenplay and directed the movie as well - his directorial debut, as far as feature length movies are concerned, was 'Gone Baby Gone' which came out a couple of years earlier, starring his brother, Casey, thus The Town is the second movie he's directed. Given that, I'm quite impressed - both movies have been quite gritty, urban movies that are quite well thought out, so kudos to Ben for that.

It should also be said that the movie turns slightly more 'Hollywood' towards the end, as the message or tone becomes a bit more serious than it may have seemed earlier on perhaps, indeed the end of the movie could be said to be quite poignant. I thought the mix of plot and action and the fact that there's some character development made it a pretty solid movie, in my opinion. I'd recommend this movie as it has a good mix of action and character development/plot, which some movies sadly lack. Its pretty entertaining and the ending was quite good too, making you think.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Frmz84

Oct 11, 2010

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Wish I could give them movie a 7.5, but 7 will have to do. This movie had a lot of hype and I think my expectations were too high. It was a solid flick, but not a movie i'll be watching over and over again (i.e., departed). The action was solid, the acting was a little all over the place. Supporting case was probably all better than Ben. He got yolked up for this movie and looked the part, but I just felt like he was pretending to be bad ass instead of just being bad ass. One thing that I found a little lackluster in the film was the tempo of the music. A lot of scenes had little to know soundtrack. It might just be my personal taste, but I love when the music and the action just sync and you're totally lost in the scene. Certain points had it, the last heist (for sure), but for the most part I think Ben went w/ a realistic approach. I recommend this movie, but don't expect the movie of the year, just another solid entertaining action flick.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

andythewhale

Jul 18, 2020

This is one of the worst most 1-dimensional character development movies I’ve ever seen. No character grew from their events. Ben Afflack is a talentless fool.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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78	#78 Best Movie of 2010
29	#29 Most Discussed Movie of 2010
28	#28 Most Shared Movie of 2010