We went to see “The Town” the other day, and we gotta tell you…we just can’t decide. We’re not huge Ben Affleck fans to begin with, but this one just looked cool. SWAT guys, hard-nosed FBI agents, an Irish-mob villainy…it sure seemed like it had potential.
The acting wasn’t bad at all, the cinematography even better (great aerial views and use of local architecture) and before too long we even forgot so much that we’d admittedly been predisposed to making fun of the protagonist. It sounds silly, but we really liked the accents and attitudes…they really worked hahd at those dropped Rs, and although we couldn’t begin to tell you if the accents were accurate (most of our handlers are from Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas after all), we liked the way it helped develop the characters. Hopefully it was a better rendition of Boston than Beer For My Horses was of Oklahoma…but then it would just about have to be, wouldn’t it?
The bonds of friendship between the bad guys made it hard to dislike them even if you’re predisposed to dislike criminals as a matter of principle (which we are). They were well cast, savvy and suitably smart-assed. What’s not to like about the loyalty displayed when one guys says, “I need your help. You can’t ever ask me any questions about it and we’re going to hurt some people,†and the response is, “Whose car are we going to take?” In addition to the cops and robbers issue, there’s some class tension and of course the problems any reasonable romantic would expect of true love set in the midst of multiple felonies, gratuitous violence, sociopathic neighbors, and (worst of all) no damn ice in the hockey rink. On the good side, the coin-operated laundry mats are clean and our heroine’s apartment was surprisingly nice.
While no downtown-LA automatic rifle chattering brawl and profligate expenditures of ammunition (a la “Heat”), the high speed chases and the gunfight at Fenway Park (yes, that Fenway Park, and sorry for those of you who aren’t part of the Red Sox Nation, the stadium doesn’t look any worse after the gang’s gun battle with Boston PD and FBI SWAT units than it usually does after a game with the Yankees. That’s okay though, it was still entertaining.
What we weren’t terribly impressed with were the numerous apparently witless cops and FBI agents apparently enforcing law and order in the booming metropolis of Boston. They’re not smart enough not to drive right up on (or try to PIT) a van wherein multiple suspects are blazing away with automatic rifle fire. Nor are they smart enough to notice unshaven bad guys dressed up as patrol officers…or to follow the most psychotic bad guy of all, on foot, with a shotgun and no backup, after a fight that saw several hundreds of rounds fired and multiple officers down and then to challenge him without any cover readily available or even a weapon ready to provide a permanent ballistic solution should he decide to keep fighting.
You know what we hated the most though? The shooter with what appeared to be an EoTech by the ambulance, in the dark parking garage. While we’d like to believe he was trying to clear a stoppage, it was unfortunately pretty obvious he was pulling the charging handle to the rear (on and AR15) as though he was working the bolt on a proper sniper rifle with a regular sniper’ scope. Now, to our detractors, take note—we don’t demand excellence in weapons handling in our movies. We liked the hell out of “The Expendables” and pretty much all of that gunplay was ludicrous. We just think a movie should follow through if it takes itself seriously (mush as “Collateral”, “Heat” and “The Way of the Gun”).
So…worth going to see, for sure. An enjoyable sorta wrong-side-of-the-tracks-blue-collar cops and robbers flick with the added attraction of good one-liners, a solid cast and lots of cops and SWAT cops (however much their tactics would make the IACP and NTOA cringe). If you don’t want to see it, at least rent it.
“We’re holding court on the street.†You just know when they wrote that someone had just asked themselves, “What would the Mad Duo say in a situation like this?â€
As usual, if you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style and philosophy (or if you are Joy Behar or Keith Olbermann) . In that event you should feel free to go play in traffic and Foxtrot-Sierra-Oscar. MAD DUO OUT!
