The Town (2010)

The Town is a crackling crime thriller, churning and burning with the perception and execution the guys behind Takers can only pretend to dream of. Like so many of its brethren, director/writer/star Ben Affleck’s caper rolls along the familiar roads of “one last job” cinema, slamming through timeworn potholes as it dodges its police tail while balancing complicated brotherhood relationships and dangerous new romances. It could easily have been “this generation’s Heat” but chooses not to be, even as it lays down fire to the familiar score of Michael Mann cinema. Instead The Town opts for the East Coast blue collar rout, snubbing L.A’s gloss for Celtic pride as it establishes itself as the most Boston of crime dramas.

Takers (2010)

If Takers is really this generation’s Heat (1995), then I feel very sorry for this generation.  And since I think I’m still technically part of this generation – or at least I am somewhere in close proximity – then I guess I feel sorry for myself.  Admirable, I know.  But when you spend two hours sitting through a movie like Takers, it’s hard to really feel anything at all.  So you start thinking about what else you could be doing, what else these actors would be doing, or what else director John Luessenhop would be doing had he not crossed paths with Cifford Joseph “T.I.” Harris, the rapper/convict/wanna-be actor who gets a whole lot of credit for putting this recycled crime caper flick together.