I want to go to The Town. I want to go where everything has a “whiskey back” and is a little dark. Where bank robber is a vocation like cop, gym teacher or bartender.
I want to go to The Town. I want to go where everything has a “whiskey back” and is a little dark. Where bank robber is a vocation like cop, gym teacher or bartender. I want friendships that started in grade school and only end at death, because that’s just they way it is. Where change only happens begrudgingly and not without some blood and tears. If you come to this town you might get kicked in the face or a pat on the back. But that pat has a tinge of “get the fuck out” behind it. And you’d better listen cause if you don’t it’s one in the face if your lucky and two in the back of the head if you’re not. Not sure if you caught on, but I loved this film. Maybe being an Irish kid from Chicago had something to do with it, maybe I just like robbing banks and Mad Men.
Oh Ben, what a tangled web you weave. You got me on board with Good Will Hunting. A film which still holds up and will for a long time. Then you took me on a crazy ten year odyssey of Daredevils and romcoms. But like any good American I love a comeback. And this one is great. Affleck’s character is a Charlestown lifer who needs to get out, but like any neighborhood or small town it pulls you in and holds you like the love of a controlling mother. You love her, would die for her but seriously I need to get the fuck out!
Affleck is part of a bank robbing crew of highly trained professionals that all come from the same town. The film starts with them pulling a job where they have to take a prisoner. A young woman, played by Rebecca Hall, who is obviously freaked out. Our boy Ben tails her to see if she knows anything and starts to fall for her. He’s clearly caught between his criminal life and the life he almost had and needs to get back.
His old life is pulling at him by best friend and crew mate, Jeremy Renner, who does a great job as the no nonsense ex-con bank robber who will shot you as quick as a slapshot on an open goal in overtime. He is just one of many townies that tug on Ben to stay. The girl represents a purity that Ben once had but pissed it away with drugs and crime. And don’t forget Jon Hamm who is a pit bull FBI agent who, had he grown up in Charlestown, be on the other side. But he didn’t grow up there so fuck you and any one else that thinks it’s ok to steal. All the other supporting cast is rock solid, like “the Florist” played by icy faced Pete Postlethwaite.
This new director Ben is one I am on board with. We can still bust his balls about Gigli like singing Marky Mark and the funky bunch songs when watching a good Mark Wahlberg film. Hey I hosted a game show where people took there clothes off for money. Donny D on the back up so put the crack up! We all have our sordid pasts, but as long as redemption is sought after, then it can just be a photo from our past. Like the high school photo with me in my letterman jacket or the vests I would wear on stage in the early 90’s. Thank you Ben for taking me to The Town. And don’t let any Hollywood suits pull you off track this time. If they do, Palm Strike them in the face.
–Graham Elwood
