“The Town” is a movie I wish I’d seen in theaters. It ranks as one of the best heist movies of all time. Ben Affleck did a fascinating job in his directorial debut of “Gone Baby Gone.” After watching “The Town,” it solidified Affleck as one of the best directors today.

The movie follows four bank robbers and their lives in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, where bank robbery is a normal trade. Affleck plays Doug MacRay, the leader of the group. He is a former alcoholic and hothead hockey player.

“The Town” stays true to the book, written by Chuck Hogan and titled “Prince of Thieves,” but the direction by Affleck and the performances from the cast are heads and shoulders above the source material in entertainment value.

The standout of the film is Jeremy Renner, who plays Doug’s sadistic best friend Jem. In this Oscar-nominated role, Jem finds any excuse for violence, such as helping Doug beat up thugs without knowing the reason. His performance alone makes the movie superior.

When listening to the audiobook, the reader, Richard Ferrone, uses a Boston accent for the characters. While accurate, it was more distracting than anything else.

Jon Hamm plays FBI Agent Adam Frawley and turns in a superb performance as well. I saw this movie before “Mad Men,” so I wasn’t familiar with the Don Draper character. Even if I was, Hamm’s powerful screen presence showcases the authoritative character that Frawley is supposed to be.

One casting choice that I thought was distracting, however, was Blake Lively as Krista. Sure, the character was supposed to be around 22 years old, which Lively was. But since Affleck was the director, I couldn’t help but wonder if he looked forward to shooting the sex scenes with Lively. He also had some steamy scenes with Emily Ratajkowski in Gone Girl. I guess I bring this up because there was a viral TikTok where this girl matched with Affleck on a dating app, and he responded to her asking why she rejected. I’m digressing here, but if there is a young actress that has to do a love scene with Affleck, I’m sure he would look forward to it.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I also enjoyed Rebecca Hall’s performance as Claire Keesey, the bank manager and victim that MacRay eventually falls for. She struck the right balance of helpless and angry with her ordeal. In the book, and this could also be from Ferrone reading her character, they presented her with more of a damsel in distress type. With Hall’s portrayal of Keesey, when she found out the truth, her anger towards MacRay was heartbreaking because you could see that she cared for him. Hall was fantastic.

I also liked the changes the movie made, as it was present day compared to the 90s in the book. It felt dated when talking about the Twister movie that was coming out in theaters. The movie is more timeless, which I prefer.

One scene I enjoyed in the book that wasn’t in the movie was the preparation the night before the first bank robbery. This was the epilogue, which displayed the camaraderie between the robbers. Their complaints of the cold cuts and the boredom because they had to wait above the bank until the following morning provided some comic relief. That is a scene I would have liked to see.

Another scene in the book was when MacRay and Krista were arguing, and he asks her if Jem was the father of Shyne. Of course, this pisses Krista off. Krista describes Shyne as “retarded” when negotiating with Frawley and that she needs to be put in a special school. They entirely ignored this in the movie. Affleck leaves the dynamic between the siblings ambiguous, and with no supervision of parents, it is entirely plausible that there was some incestuous relationship between the two. Maybe that was the reason Krista liked to sleep around.

There is also the noticeable change of MacRay remaining alive in the movie. This may be a “Hollywood” decision, but I agreed with it because it gives hope that Doug and Claire might get together in Florida in the future. That ending makes the story stick with you, and the possibility of another showdown with Frawley.

Sources:

 http://thatwasnotinthebook.com/diff/prince_of_thieves_book_2004_vs_the_town_movie_2010