RobertHilburnOnline.com

THE TOWN

Good, but very familiar

    There have probably been 30,000 movie westerns, so Ben Affleck probably thought there was room left for the 8,000^th or so heist film. While he makes does a first-rate job as an actor and director in this gritty tale of love and loyalty and self-destruction in a gritty Boston neighborhood, the familiarity of the plot points limit this to a minor, but entertaining work. One problem at the heart of the film is when  Affleck, as the familiar criminal with a heart, not only sweeps an unlikely subject off her feet (as part of a plot to make sure the bank heist didn’t have one big loose end) but then loses his heart to her. And someone should have told Affleck that one of the film’s shoot-out scenes (with the loudest assault rifles you can imagine) is simply over the top. Nice, nice, nice touches--but well short of being great.