The Town: Boston accents and Oscar-worthy acting

The post won’t be written with a Boston accent, but feel free to read it that way, if you like.

On Friday night I went with the girlfriend to watch The Town, starring and directed by Ben Affleck. I saw the preview for it during another film a little while back, and was pretty amped to see it from the get-go. I’m not the biggest fan of Ben Affleck, but I do enjoy the New England crime movie genre that’s become popular over the last few years.

Going into the movie I was expecting a great performance from Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm, and while I wasn’t necessarily disappointed, he was basically Don Draper as an FBI agaent – so, not much range there. The performances from Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Blake Lively (Gossip Girl), however, stole the spotlight. After his performance in The Hurt Locker, I expected Renner to do well, but for Lively I wasn’t expecting much. When she was on the screen, playing a Oxycontin addict with a child, sporting the famous accent, I wasn’t thinking of her rich-girl character Serena from Gossip Girl. I’d say Lively and Renner deserve nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and whatever other award shows there are.

As for the movie itself, it had pretty much everything you could ask for. There was obviously a lot of drama and suspense, but it also had a great character-driven plot and even some funny moments during times you wouldn’t think they’d pop up (if you’ve seen it you’ll know the one scene that made everyone laugh). If you’re a fan of the genre I highly recommend you checking The Town out; you won’t be disappointed – I give it a 4/5. Another great review I happened upon was from Two Blondes Walk into a Blog. It’s worth checking out to get their perspective.