#3

Ok, next up is Ben Affleck's tale of Boston bank robbers, The Town. I watched for the first time last night, on a rented Blu-ray.

Let me first say that I have never been a big Affleck fan. I have always considered him to be the less talented childhood friend of Matt Damon who, possibly at the insistence of his good buddy, rides the coat tails of Matt's success. Now that I have seen this film, I believe that Mr. Affleck has carved his own niche as a director. He also shares screenwriting credit, but I don't believe the script was the strongest component of the movie. Affleck seems to have taken a directing lesson or two from Michael Mann, or at least watched Heat multiple times to learn how to helm a heist movie such as this. The only thing that turned me off was the length, at 2 hours, 5 minutes. It seemed to drag a little bit at times. Out of fairness, I was watching the extended version on the Blu-Ray, though. No idea what the difference is between it at the original theatrical version. Also, as a life-long Red Sox fanatic, I loved the final robbery of the movie. I hope that doesn't give too much away. 4 out of 5 stars for The Town.