Big Screen Blurb: The Town



Let me be perfectly clear. I'm a Yankees fan. This probably explains my lack of membership in the Ben Affleck fan club. Don't get me wrong. I think he's incredibly talented, dating back to his 1997 hit Good Will Hunting. However, with seemingly all of his flicks taking place in Boston (let's call it B*&#*N), and considering my baseball-driven prejudice, I've never really found myself in awe of this writer/director/actor. The Town? Well, it wasn't necessarily awe inspiring, but it's exceptionally good. Actually, it's one of the best flicks of the year and very worthy of a 4.0 star score.

Meet Doug (Affleck). He's your average, run-of-the-mill guy living in Charlestown--a 'burb of B*&#*N. He works in a rock quarry and oh yeah, he robs banks. With that said, Doug is not a bad guy. Well, he's not a great guy by conventional standards, but he does have heart. That heart is captured by Claire (Rebecca Hall). Claire had the misfortune of playing a large role in one of Doug's heists. She was a branch manager and was forced to open the safe went it all went down--then for good measure, Claire was taken hostage. Doug was put in charge of tailing Claire to ensure that she didn't know too much. Claire and Doug start falling for each other as she is oblivious to his bank-pinching hobby. Meanwhile, Doug's cohorts are missing that all important heart and more than willing to rub her out if she can whistle the feds. The FBI is in hot pursuit and enter a greedy mob boss looking for his next big score and you're perfectly set up for The Town. Yadayadayada the boys pull heist after heist, while Doug plays the dual role of robber/BF and the FBI is hot on their tails.

I liked it...a lot. Yes, I had to endure B*&#*N, but with a great story that contained numerous interesting sub-plots...a cast of fascinating characters that were not at all lacking in development...plenty of action...and, great acting that nicely intertwined hard-nosed and heart-felt, The Town was two-hours well spent. I'm talking about family dynamics, mob-boss crunches and best friends squaring off to boot. Plenty to keep you entertained for 122 minutes.

All in all, it's one of the best flicks of 2010 and another nice score for Affleck...did I say that? Oh well, see it and see it big.

No yard this week...even the household chores are limited. I'm just hitting Neyland Stadium for what should be a rare win for my Vols.

True...out!