The Town

UK Release Date: 24th September 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 (www.imdb.com).

Director: Ben Affleck (Gone, Baby, Gone)

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper

Certain aspects of The Town assimilate Michael Mann's Heat, as do most heist epics since its creation. Luckily enough for director/actor Ben Affleck and all on board there's plenty of new ideas that help the film stand on its own two feet. Heist expert Affleck and his crew, which consists, infiltrate a bank, kidnapping a member of staff in the process. Affleck's oddly infatuated with the kidnapped Rebecca Hall, who's unaware of who her kidnappers were. The Town follows his working life and personal life coming together. 

Affleck has scored as both director and actor, creating tension and feud with animosity. Affleck's is humble, the relationship with Hall is cast in romantic misery. Blake Lively's short but bitter cameo as a 'lady of the night', abusing our criminal-come-protagonist, only coming out her shell when FBI agent Jon Hamm muscles in. The person to watch out for is Jeremy Renner as Affleck's harrowing, temperamental partner-in-crime. The scene's he's in are jaw-clenching.

The Town's packs enough heat to keep my interest the whole way through. Well done, Ben Affleck. Gone, Baby, Gone wasn't a fluke.

4/5