Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011

The Town: ©2010 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND LEGENDARY PICTURES

I’ve never much cared for Ben Affleck’s acting, but he has apparently paid attention to what was going on behind the camera, and is emerging as a competent director (Gone Baby Gone). His clear, fluid style focuses on character, and he can create tension. Consider the squirm-inducing scene involving a tattoo and three people having coffee. Perfect. The story, from the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, has to do with a bank robber (Affleck) from a Boston neighborhood where his line of work is nearly a family trade. He’s a meticulous planner, but one guy on his crew (a scary Jeremy Renner—The Hurt Locker) is a loose cannon. The tension begins when he takes up with a bank manager (Rebecca Hall) they had taken hostage and released, their faces unseen. But Renner believes she can finger him and wants her dead. All the while, determined FBI agent Jon Hamm (Mad Men) is closing in. This is a well-assembled, smart and stylish thriller of a kind we see too few of these days. I’m wondering what Affleck will do once he leaves the car chases and machine guns behind. Also Blake Lively, Chris Cooper and the late, great Pete Postlethwaite.