The Town

[matt35mm]

Pas, I keep reading your posts and thinking, "That doesn't sound like GT..." then realize that your avatar keeps making me think that I'm reading GT's words.

[pete]

so if you can't see any film that claims to be like another film and you can't seem anything that people tell you is completely original, then what does your dogma allow you to see?

[polkablues]

Pas, I keep reading your posts and thinking, "That doesn't sound like GT..." then realize that your avatar keeps making me think that I'm reading GT's words.

Ditto this.

[Pas]

Pas, I keep reading your posts and thinking, "That doesn't sound like GT..." then realize that your avatar keeps making me think that I'm reading GT's words.

Ditto this.

Fixed.

[Stefen]

HAHA

[matt35mm]

I, sir, am honored.

[RegularKarate]

I finally saw this yesterday (hooray for the occasional day off at my day job).

I loved the first two thirds and like most of the rest.  I was just very disappointed with the last 20 minutes.  They ended up making the cops too dumb and easy to trick and escape.  (the cops also behaved very unrealistically, but I can let that slide with this kind of movie)

There were also a few monologue moments that were just a little too poorly written (and acted, let's face it, Ben just isn't that good).

The rest though, was pretty thrilling and I'd like to see Affleck do some more straight-forward action/crime movies.

[pete]

spoiler

the cops totally figured them out at the end and shot them down!  how were they too dumb?

[RegularKarate]

SPOILER

spoiler

the cops totally figured them out at the end and shot them down!  how were they too dumb?

Tactically, they're too dumb... they let B.A. get away too easily.  No way, they let him just walk out of there.  I'd say ESPECIALLY dressed as a cop.  Cops know one another, if they're sent in in a group of five and a completely stranger shows up in the bunch, they're going to realize it.

Also, they used a kill-shot on a man who didn't even have his gun up.  That's not realistic at all.

Like I said though, I let most of it slide, I would have just liked to have seen a less easy-to-escape situation at the end.

[pete]

but most SWAT teams are like that - who panic and get confused and all that (vs. in Call of Duty where they have the only the most ideal executions).  The film addresses all that - the cops and the SWATs yell at each other and earlier they dressed up as cops and got the real cops to back down.  also - unarmed people get shot at all the time.  They were engaged in a firefight in which the assailant was seen with the gun.  The "killshot" didn't come from a sniper, but the dude was shot in the head amongst extreme chaos, when SWAT guys were getting shot at.  You think they'd go for his leg or something?

I actually enjoy the tactical stuff more because in movies like Miami Vice it shows only the most ideal execution in the most ideal situation, in which bad guys do all the fucking up and good guys win because the tactical advisor says so.  this one at least tries a little to capture the chaos and the shitshow of it all - when everyone from every unit swarms the place and nobody knows what the fuck is going on.  It's all addressed in the movie, and Don Draper figured that shit out quickly anyways.

[RegularKarate]

I can overlook the killshot, but SWAT are definitely trained not to shoot in the head even during a firefight.  If an unarmed man is shot in the head, there will usually be a trial. (not saying it doesn't happen).

I still think it was way too easy for him to get away.  The set-up was so good and the situation was so tense that it was a let down that he just walked out with the cops because he had a uniform on.

[quigliest]

!!!!!!SPOILER ALL THE WAY THOUGH PRETTY MUCH!!!!!!

My main point of contention was the pseudo-eastwood sob-ending tacked on at the end..... with the money going to the ice rink.

Correct me if I'm wrong but surely if a large amount of money was robbed and sometime after that an ice rink gets an anonymous and inordinately large donation some eyebrows are going to be raised. Not only if is said ice rink is situated in the bank robbing capital of the America (I'm not sure how much this is true but I'll take it at face value since a movie told me it) but the renovation is dedicated after a known bank robbers mothers. A mother who, from everything we've been told, wasn't a great person. Is this supposed to make me shed a tear. Granted there was some comparisons drawn between Affleck's mother and Blake Lively's character perhaps and in a sense maybe her redeeming moment was a redeeming moment for Affleck's mother. But it seemed like a misjudged sentiment by Halls character.

That being said I really enjoyed the movie all the same. However walking out I was aware that I had found my self sniggering every time Affleck gave himself another sob story. By the third date their dropping some serious issues on the table.


Also the "sunny day" device was painful. Since it didn't work for me when it was first used and then when it comes back around, and you can see its purpose, it seems like a weak device.

I too can overlook the killshot since for me its one of the best kill-shots for me in a movie since CMBB. It may be a bit morbid and twisted to look for a really good portrayal of "Best Being Shot in the Head" but its rarely seen and you know what i mean... hopefully. Does this deserve its own thread maybe

[cronopio 2]

yeah i wanted it to feel like a super boston crime movie in the way heat is an LA crime movie, but it never got to that point of bliss and entertainment where you're saying, this is a cool city movie.
i think if the script had more scenes with the florister, chris cooper, and more barbecues or scenes at the hockey stadium for girls and boys, we might've gotten a better sense of what the story promised with its hard hitting quotes at the beginning. ben affleck's a kick-ass director tho, and it's not a bad movie (i went to see it by myself is how much i trusted it )  but i dunno, it's like a better movie got lost in the way of making this cut.


i'm drunk

[SiliasRuby]

I think Ben's getting better at this. His instincts are starting to sharpen but eventually if he wants to get really good his films will have to branch out so not every one of them is set in Boston. Although, if he plays it right and has the rest of his films in Boston he could be what Lynch is to LA or Woody Allen is to New York.