What A Town!

THE TOWN-2010-It's hard for me to believe this preposterous, clichéd talkfest was actually on a lot of critics top ten list.

Apparently a suburb of Boston called Charlestown has produced loads of armed bank robbers. This is a story about some of them (it's based on a novel "Prince of Thieves"). Co-scripter/director/star Ben Affleck is Doug MacRay, a career thief who with his dirt bag buddies rob a bank. They take the female bank manager (Rebecca Hall) hostage. Later after letting her go they discover she lives right near them and could cause problems later so Doug is dispatched to so something about it. He winds up falling in love with her and blah, blah, blah. Pete Postlethwaite is good as the florist who backs all the robberies and Chris Cooper has one scene as MacRay's father. Also with Jon Hamm, Blake Lively and Titus Welliver. This also has to have one of the nuttiest disclaimers I've ever seen:

"Charlestown's reputation as a breeding ground for armed robbers
is authentic. However, this film all but ignores the great majority
of the residents of Charlestown, past and present, who are the
same good and true people found most anywhere. This film is dedicated to them."

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It's A Bird, It's A Plane....

HOLLYWOODLAND-2006-The “mysterious death” of George Reeves is the topic of this fictional biopic. Ben Affleck plays the actor who gained immortality playing “Superman” on TV in the 1950’s. Adrian Brody is the fictional PI investigating his suicide. Diane Ladd is slightly miscast as Reeves’ married lover Toni Lanier. It touches on several conspiracy theories but in the end seems to say that Reeves did in fact kill himself.


Affleck is good but lacks whatever it was that made the real Reeves so likable and perfect as the man of steel. It’s really not his fault though. There’s probably no actor around who could have captured it!

Since Brody’s character is fictional why delve into his personal life? Who cares? This side story really brings the film down a notch.

Bob Hoskins is Eddie Mannix, Toni’s producer/husband. Also with Robin Tunney (TV’s PRISON BREAK), Jeffery DeMunn and Larry Cedar. This was the first theatrical movie for director Allen Coulter who’d previously done TV episodes of THE SOPRANOS, THE X-FILES, SEX AND THE CITY and other shows. 

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