We Gotta Get Out of This Place

Ben's been doing more than just Jennifer.

The Town, directed and starring Ben Affleck, is one of the best films of this genre that I've seen in quite a while. Usually these type of movies have hard-ass badasses banging, beating and dropping the F Bomb every other word and all the while you sit and wonder where the hell the plot went. Not so for Mr. Jennifer Garner's excellent film.

From top to bottom, this film holds up to the most jaded of cinéastes. Affleck plays a long-time street criminal from Charlestown Mass., evidently the bank robbing breeding ground of the US, and his struggles with his criminal-cum-jailbird lifer and what he sees as his bleak future.

What I liked about this film is that it didn't preach at me, no characters were over-the-top tough guys, the plot was clear and the action was dynamite. Plus, Jeremy Renner is in this and he is just aces. John Hamm plays the relentless prick FBI agent with perfect pitch. Excellent. I give it Five Boxes of Popcorn (air popped, no salt or butter please.)