Rental: The Town

THE TOWN

Director: Ben Affleck

Writers: Ben Affleck, Peter Craig, Aaron Stockard

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively.

Boston, Massachusetts is the crime capital of the world. Or so The Town tells you in the start titles. Charlestown, to be precise, is the place where the most bank robberies occur every year. Doug (Affleck) is one of these bank robbers. After he and his gang of thieves rob a Cambridge bank, they take a female employee (the ever-so-brilliant Rebecca Hall) hostage. After they release her, she meets with FBI agent Adam Frawley (Hamm, of Mad Men fame) and the hunt is on. Things get sticky, though, when Doug falls for the very woman he kidnapped.

Just to start off, I must confess- I absolutely loathe Ben Affleck as an actor. I actually didn't watch his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, so I wasn't so sure my hatred towards him would extend to behind the camera. After watching The Town, I was quite impressed. Sure, it's nothing outstanding, but he does do a good job. Even still, he can't act for nuts.

The rest of the cast (excepting a almost undecipherable, overwrought Blake Lively) do a great job, expecially Rebecca Hall. I've always liked her acting skills- she milked her wife role in The Prestige for all it was worth (which was a good thing), and showed great chemistry with Martin Sheen in Frost/Nixon. Here she displays a great range of skills, pulling off her role with grace and subtlelty. Cameos by the always welcome Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite as Doug's estranged father and a gun toting florist, respectively, are also nice touches.

There are some scenes of genuine suspense, although they are few and far between. For the most part, this is a run-of-the-mill action with not too much gore and instead a bit of intelligence and wit. As with most films of this genre, there is a level of implausability, but The Town is much easier to bear than most.

The bottom line: A fun, sometimes thrilling action that missteps with some bad casting decisions and cliches.

7/10

Never Let Me Go Review

NEVER LET ME GO

Director: Mark Romanek

Writer: Alex Garland

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield, Sally Hawkins.

As children, Ruth (Mulligan) and her friends Kathy (Knightley) and Tommy (Garfield) spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic boarding school. But with the arrival of a new teacher (Hawkins), things start to get a bit more complicated. As the three friends grow older, and as the horrible reality of what awaits them grows stronger, Ruth comes to realise exactly how fragile life is.

Adapted brilliantly from the Man Booker Prize-nominated novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, Alex Garland's screenplay balances delicately themes of morality, love and sexuality. While, as always, not all the elements from the novel are in the film, the film never feels rushed and the dialogue is never stuffed with exposition. The contemplative score by Rachel Portman, is greatly complemented by a modern reworking of a Lloyd Price classic, that proves important in the plot. The film is gorgeously photographed by Adam Kimmel, and Mark Romanek shows he is a man of many talents after the eerily effective One Hour Photo.

The acting is top-notch, with Charlotte Rampling, Domnhall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough in supporting roles. Andrew Garfield is good as ever as Tommy, but he is maybe a tad underwritten, which hinders the trio's dynamic. Keira Knightly is impressive as Kathy, but it is Carey Mulligan who truly lights up the screen. Her Ruth is a strongwilled, caring human being swept up in the atrocities that make up her life. While the material may be gloomy and depressing, she never hams it up and is never overwrought. She stays confident, showing Ruth's conflicting thoughts, fears and desires in one small expression. Her final scene is a harrowing one, that will probably stay with you for days afterward.

It is a poignant, sometimes harshly honest film that resonated with me- although it may be too depressing and glum for some.

The Bottom Line- For fans of the book, Never Let Me Go shouldn't disappoint- it is a finely acted, beautifully made film.

9/10