Best Boston crime film
 

Best crime drama centered in Boston.

I expect most to say The Departed, but I'd go with The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Just a brilliant, brilliant film.

I don't know many crime movies set in Boston, but two good ones that came to mind are The Brink's Job (1978) and Mystic River (2003).

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

My immediate answers are Ben Affleck’s The Town and Gone Baby Gone. The Friends of Eddie Coyle is next on my DVD Queue though.

Mystic River barely holds up tbh.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

The one the Johnny Depp did a few year ago, wasn't it based in Boston? Or Chicago? If it was, that would be good choice.


But out of the ones you mentioned, Departed and Mystic River would be up there. But in terms of relevance, Spotlight would be my choice, as it was based on a true story.


And wasn't Boondock Saints also set in Boston?

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

The Thomas Crown Affair

The only one I didn't really care for was Black Mass. love The Town, The Departed, Mystic River, Patriot's Day, Boondocks Saints, Gone Baby Gone, Eddie Coyle, Blown Away, etc. Of course I'm not very objective. If I had to choose a favorite, right now I'd go with The Town.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

The Departed is my favorite.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

I'd go with The Departed or Gone Baby Gone. Whenever I see a crime movie set in Boston, it's more gritty than other crime settings in America. Is Boston a higher crime city in America compared to most and that's why the movies treat it that way?

No it's not at all a city with a high crime rate compared to most other big cities. For a "big city" it's actually not a very big city as far as size goes, and it has alot of personality. Maybe it's easier then to give off a more intimate feeling as opposed to humongous cities like NY, LA, and Chicago.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

Well I wasn't sure of the size but felt it was at least as big as Seattle or something. A movie where Boston had a high crime rate on child sexual assaults was Spotlight, based on a true story. I am guessing those kind of crimes are not any higher in Boston in real life probably, but it seems that in American movies and TV, that kind of crime in the Catholic church is usually done in Boston and New York Settings.

Cause they had those kind of sexual assault crimes in the Catholic church not only in Spotlight, but also in Sleepers, and Mystic River, and a season of Rescue Me. Boston Public also had a season that dealt with a Catholic Church sexual assault story.

So I wonder, is the Catholic Church sexual assault crimes higher in Boston than anywhere in the U.S., since it's portrayed that way in movies and TV?

Without looking, my guess would be those crimes are less common in Boston than they are in other cities, at least per 100 people or whatever.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

Well it's weird then, cause if Boston is not that high in crime in real life, then why do movies and TV, treat crime more dark and serous in the Boston setting then?

There's enough to make movies, like most cities. It's had it's gangsters like Whitey Bulgar and the armored car robbery history in Charlestown is true.

I think people just got tired of NYC tbh. Northeast crime movies getting placed in Boston is a somewhat recent trend I thought?

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

I would say that Gone Baby Gone is better than The Departed, The Town, and Mystic River.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

Actually one of the reasons why Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River are both set in Boston, is cause they are based on novels both by the same author.

Several years ago Boston became a more desirable location for film production. I believe it has to do with tax incentives or something like that.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

Yeah but just because the city is used for filmmaking, why are the writers choosing to set the stories there? I mean you can shoot in Boston and still have it double for other cities, if you wanted to, since filmmakers will shoot in one city, and have it substitute for another.

So what is the stories' reason for the Boston settings in current trends?

I don't think there's any more movies set in Boston then other major cities, but many of the movies that were have been successful.

Re: Best Boston crime film
 

The Boston Tea Party (1908).