Movie: The Town

Joe and I snuck out Saturday night for a quick bite and a movie. We ended up at Flemings, the steakhouse, to sit at the bar for a steak and salad. We've been eating at the bar lately when we've been out. It's nice to get served fast and hang there when you're sans kids.

The movie was very good. On the way home, though, I started to find some things that didn't sit right with me about it. Overall, I think Ben Affleck is a great storyteller as director morseo than as actor. He was pretty good in this as was Jeremy Renner (from Hurt Locker) as his best friend and accomplice. The pencil-thin moustache alone gets you. They filmed the bank robbery scene in my town, but honestly I forgot about that until after the movie was over...I don't think it would matter...the outside of the bank was filmed in Cambridge anyway so I don't think I would have recognized anything. Great Boston/Charlestown shots overall.

It's been compared to The Departed which I think is a stretch. It was action-packed but not quite so involved. I will say that none of the accents were overdone or way off base. Kobayashi from Usual Suspects played "the florist" well. Rebecca Hall was good as Ben's love interest and victim - I just looked her up and she's English - that always throws me off when you have no idea someone is not American. Blake Lively was really good as his ex-girlfriend - I've not seen her in anything else. Jon Hamm was awesome to see outside of Mad Men, but I have to say he didn't quite get there for me. Something was not 100% believable. It's going to be hard for him to shake Don Draper. He did it on 30 Rock, I thought, but in drama you are always looking for serious and hard Don.

SPOILER:
There was a lack of originality - I don't think I like that the sister/town girl gives them up, but the new girlfriend that's not from the town keeps the secret. It was a little too reminiscient of a similar scene with Ashley Judd and Val Kilmer in Heat. It was predictable in that you had a feeling that Ben Affleck would not let Jon Hamm have the last word as Jon Hamm had indicated he would. Further, you knew he'd be back for the Florist. The scene of them robbing Fenway was awesome.

Anyway, it was still good and worth seeing.