How could you not want to see a picture that has such a poster? The image of a nun with a gun was what got me intrigued in the rape-revenge flick Ms.45 (Abel Ferrara, 1981). Here we have it mixed-in with bank robberies, the title referring to Charlestown, Massachusetts, a city infamous for producing more bank robbers than anywhere in the world. While the nun's attire is used only once, the intensity of the heist and ensuing chase/shootout makes it one of the memorable scenes of the film, the action reminiscent of Mann or Frankenheimer.
Based on Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves, Affleck's second effort at directing is a welcome addition to the heist genre, perhaps the best since Spike Lee's Inside Man (2006). Interested in the social condition of the human element at play in generational criminality, the film aptly explores the relationship between vicitm and criminal through gang-leader Doug MacRay's (Ben Affleck) involvement with Claire (Rebecca Hall), the women he took as a hostage during the film's opening bank robbery. As the FBI closes in on MacRay and his gang, his instinctual urge to slow down is hindered by his childhood friend's (Jeremy Renner) impatience for retirement and executive pressure from the local crime-boss (Pete Postlethwaite in one of his last performance, RIP) to pull one last heist for him; at Fenway Park no less. The legendary ballpark is the setting for the film's final confrontation, whose treatment arguably confirms Affleck as new action-director to look-out for. While I enjoyed his first effort, Gone, Baby, Gone (2007), the subjects dealt-with here, coupled with the crystal-clear intensity of the action sequences, make this picture a much more entertaining one (not to be mistaken with shallow). Even though his acting is decent in this picture, The Town proves beyond a doubt that behind the camera is where Affleck truly belongs.
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