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The town - Blake Lively, Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Ben Affleck

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

There are over 300 bank robberies in Boston every year. And most of the professionals live in a one-square-mile neighbourhood called Charlestown.

One of them is Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), 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 (Jeremy Renner), 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 (Rebecca Hall). When they discover she 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 terrorised 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, led by Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm), closing in and Jem questioning his loyalty, Doug realises 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.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film crime romance thriller bank heist thief FBI agent police criminal romance love hostage robber conflict

Persons of interest

Blake Lively .... Krista
Ben Affleck .... Doug MacRay
Jeremy Renner
Jon Hamm .... Adam Frawley
Chris Cooper
Rebecca Hall .... Claire
Slaine .... Gloansy
Nicholas Cairis .... FBI Agent
Ed O'Keefe .... Morton
Chuck Hogan .... Author: Prince of Thieves
Ben Affleck .... Screenwriter
Peter Craig .... Screenwriter
Ben Affleck .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

The town official movie sites:

The town film production notes
The town movie trailers:

QuickTime
YouTube

Awards and film festivals:

Golden Globes, USA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) 2011: Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Jeremy Renner)

Studios and distributors:

Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Secret Agent Acid Thunder

Theatrical report

M: Matt Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Damon! Ben Affleck!

B: Ben Affleck? Ben Affleck?! MATT DAMON!

I swear those two write with each other on their minds; probably explains all those jokes like, "I f*$ked Ben Affleck", and why the creators of South Park love them so much… Still don't let these lines confuse you; The town was written by, directed by & stars Ben Affleck and at no point is there any mention of Matt Damon. And, unlike other people of this class (write, direct, star) such as Woody Allen, Sylvester Stallone & Kevin Smith (yes, just because Silent Bob has said all of TWO LINES, it still counts!) he managed to cobble together an excellent story with sadly not enough cinematographic experience. If I hadn't known before-hand about his role in the making of this movie, I'd not have guessed it afterwards. Unlike Woody and Sylvester, his visual focus revolved around the story rather than his character, which gives a lot of kudos to him because I've seen many films directed by great people who spend so much time getting those shots of the star that the rest of the movie is left hungry.

Ben's character looks a lot older than the suggested years; and that is either attributed to his character's hard life, or the make-up department. Either way, like Mark Wahlberg I will endeavour to make fewer jokes in poor taste with Ben in the punchline. Hopefully he will continue down this road, grow a little and put forward some more gripping original work. I wouldn't suggest another Good Will Hunting; but please spare us and himself another Gigli. And please, please, PLEASE, whatever you do, DO NOT get caught doing another Clerks, because you're destined to be the brunt of another of Kevin Smith's cold, calculating jokes*.

* Dear Mr Smith,

Please feel free to create another epic to add to the already existing sextet - duh, of course Chasing Amy belongs! - and try to not tease Ben too much; he almost deserves it although I haven't yet forgotten him for Gigli yet.

The crime, romance, thriller movie The town is directed by Ben Affleck and stars Blake Lively, Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm.