The Town

tok9

Saw it tonight and really enjoyed it. Wouldn't say it was as good as I was hoping but it was definitely worth the ticket imo

1968

As my dad said it was "Heat meets The Departed".

Well worth a watch though. Enjoyed it a lot.

Sad Professor

I thought this was really good. As above, the whole plot is pretty much lifted from Heat, but hey, if you are making a crime film and are going rip someone off, rip from the best.

A few thoughts about the ending

I didn't like the voice-over, or the fact that Affleck got away from his stand-off with Postlethwaite without so much as a scratch. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Affleck basically ripped off the ending of Heat but made the hero invisible at the end. The whole thing has the stench of studio meddling about it. I'm not saying he should have died, but they could have left it ambiguous. Like De Niro going back for Waingro in Heat, Affleck going back to kill Postlethwaite was stupid and he should have paid a price for it.

However, there were several other things about the ending that I really liked: Hall's "sunny day" line to Affleck on the phone; the tangerine in the bag of cash; Hamm's line to Hall that the FBI are a national organisation (i.e. we are going to be watching you); the implication that Claire spent the money on the hockey team; and the slightly mysterious and between two places vibe to where Affleck is at the end. It was a good ending which (minus the heavy-handed voice-over) managed to say a lot with very little.

Regarding the ending,

Affleck shot the original ending where Doug is shot during his shootout with Fegie and ends up back in Claire's apartment were he dies in her arms. It was actually the studios prefered ending but the test audiences hated it and the decision was made for Doug to survive so they used the other ending he shot. I'm hoping the directors cut restores the original ending.

Sad Professor

Deleted User wrote: »

Regarding the ending,

Affleck shot the original ending where Doug is shot during his shootout with Fegie and ends up back in Claire's apartment were he dies in her arms. It was actually the studios prefered ending but the test audiences hated it and the decision was made for Doug to survive so they used the other ending he shot. I'm hoping the directors cut restores the original ending.

Interesting. Those damn test audiences! :pac:

The extended cut has already made its way online and I'm afraid the ending is the same.

Basq

Watched the extended cut last night and loved it!

The 2 and a half hour runtime flew by. There was some real strong performances in that cast but particularly Hamm, Affleck and Renner.

With this and 'Gone Baby Gone', Affleck shows he definitely has a real flair as a director.

James Forde

Great film, looking forward to picking it up on blu ray

rednik

Thought it was a great movie, just ordered the blu ray off Axel and it was posted this evening. I hope it arrives before Chrismas.:)

WHIP IT!

Have to say, I loved this movie. Thought it was excellent and has given me a new-found respect for Ben Affleck - never liked him in anything before this and have avoided several movies he's been in in the past.

I wasn't mad about John Hamm's casting, thought it needed a stronger acter who was, basically, a bit more of a b*stard!

I also thought

the note on the windshield part was a bit pointless

.

But, bottom line - loved it!

Richard Dower

Saw the entended cut just now, decent film all round, it's pretty much "Heat"....why did Afleck hire Blake Lively?....she's the only bad part of the film, her Boston accent was terrible!

WHIP IT!

Richard Dower wrote: »

Saw the entended cut just now, decent film all round, it's pretty much "Heat"....why did Afleck hire Blake Lively?....she's the only bad part of the film, her Boston accent was terrible!

I don't think she was supposed to have a working class Boston accent though, was she? Didn't she mention that kids called her a 'Toonie', which supposedly is a person who lives in 'The Town' but isn't a real Towny?

Richard Dower

^ you're thinkong of Rebecca Hall....not Jeremy Renner's white trash sister.

Sad Professor

I didn't like the extended cut. Far too many new scenes between Affleck and Hall aimlessly walking around talking about nothing. It reminded me of Chasing Amy. It seems like there was a very deliberate attempt to excise these scenes from the theatrical cut.

There's also some really sloppy editing. Affleck obviously shot a few different versions of many scenes. For the extended cut he restored one of these scenes but forgot to take the old one out, so he and Hall now have the same conversation with slightly different dialogue twice. He also removed one of Hamm's lines at the start of the film and now his follow-up line no longer makes any sense. And a scene from the theatrical cut is replaced in the extended cut by what seems to be an earlier (and inferior version) of the same scene - same dialogue but different location.

For first-time viewers I would recommend the theatrical cut.

James Forde

when is this out on Blu-ray?

WHIP IT!

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ you're thinkong of Rebecca Hall....not Jeremy Renner's white trash sister.

Ah, indeed I am!

rednik

bryanjf wrote: »

when is this out on Blu-ray?

It's out here end of January but you can get the US version now. I got mine during the week and it is region free. Got it from Axelmusic.

Hank Scorpio

Not really my favourite genre of movie, but I thought it was ok. Prolly wouldn't watch again though

James Forde

rednik wrote: »

It's out here end of January but you can get the US version now. I got mine during the week and it is region free. Got it from Axelmusic.

cheers, just bought it

seems like a great website!

MisterAnarchy

Its a good film ,I enjoyed it much better than I was expecting.
Only negative I'd have is the Boston Accents in it .
Its an awfully annoying accent and very hard to understand dialogue .It took me 40-45 minutes to get used to it,no need for it to be honest .
I was disappointed that they

got ratted out by that stupid bitch ,what an imbecile.She had no problem sending her brother and long time partner to impending jail/death

krudler

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Its a good film ,I enjoyed it much better than I was expecting.
Only negative I'd have is the Boston Accents in it .
Its an awfully annoying accent and very hard to understand dialogue .It took me 40-45 minutes to get used to it,no need for it to be honest .
I was disappointed that they

got ratted out by that stupid bitch ,what an imbecile.She had no problem sending her brother and long time partner to impending jail/death

What? it'd be liking making a movie set in Dublin and having nobody speak with Dublin accents. its a movie set in South Boston, of course people are going to have Boston accents.

slave1

Haven't read back through the thread as all I need to say is I was very impressed (director's cut), great film, yeah like every good film some weak bits but overall well worth the watch, great casting