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There’s a Family
Guy skit that
shows Matt Damon and
Ben Affleck writing
Good
Will Hunting.
The joke has Damon
at the typewriter
doing most of the
work, while Affleck
is on the coach
napping and doing….
Er…. Other things.
The joke is Damon
was the brains
behind it and
Affleck’s name was
on it too. That was
a lot of people’s
perception. Then
Gone
Baby Gone
came out and Affleck
made is directorial
debut with the
movie… and it turns
out to be brilliant.
Following up that
movie, Affleck
releases
The
Town
and it again
showcases his
pension for making
great movies.
The
Town
centers on Doug
MacRay. He wants out
of Boston and he
wants out of his
job. His job isn’t a
nice one. He does
bank heists for a
mob figure and gets
very little out of
it. When his crew
takes a hostage,
Doug keeps them from
murdering her but
they keep tabs on
her so she doesn’t
tell them who they
are. Anyway, he
starts dating her,
she knows who did
it; he wants out…
you just get the
feeling that this
isn’t going to have
a
Reindeer Games
ending.
Affleck the actor…
I’m not against but
I’m not high on.
He’s good; he’s just
never had a perfect
role for me. He’s
been good to great
in things but he’s
never been perfect
in anything. In
The
Town
that’s the case too.
He’s good here as
MacRay, but he’s not
amazing. He is good
enough to root for
though, and that’s
important. As far as
directing goes, what
I loved about
Gone
Baby Gone
was how perfect
Affleck captured
Boston and showed it
in the proper
lighting. There’s
lots of sunset work
in that movie
although it’s not
focusing on it- it’s
just showing it in
that light and it’s
great to watch on
screen. As for
The
Town,
it’s a darker film
but again Affleck
does great work with
lighting, angles,
and shots; it’s some
of the best work
I’ve seen all year.
He also gets quite a
bit out of a cast
that’s not exactly
blockbuster caliber.
They all do great
jobs in this film
and I would think
that some coaching
up for their parts
is a large part of
that.
This Blu-ray
features some decent
extra content
although there’s not
a lot of it. There
are short making of
featurettes that you
can watch entwined
in the movie or
separately. They are
cool to watch
through and there’s
fifteen minutes
that’s good to watch
through. Although
that’s all there
really is, 15
minutes is more
extra footage than
you get on other Blu-rays.
You also have the
ability to watch the
extended cut of this
movie, which is
okay… but the
theatrical version
was chosen because…
it works better.
The
Town
is another cool
movie from Ben
Affleck. Maybe I’m
not crazy about him
as an actor as a lot
of people are, but
he’s really good
behind a camera.
Gone
Baby Gone
proved that Affleck
could do a great job
as a director and
The
Town
proved that he can
be consistent at it.
I would like to see
him direct something
high-profile that
he’s not in or
doesn’t have family
relations to. Call
me intrigued.
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