The Town: A Stupid, Overrated, Crappy Movie:

The Town is an overrated, cheesy piece of junk that's more like a feature-length made-for TV soap opera than a regular movie. It never, ever should've made it into the cinema(s) at all, imho.

The cast is mediocre at best, the plot and story are overused, the Boston accents, especially on the part of Ben Affleck, are forced and way overdone, and the chemistry between Doug and Claire is non-existent to paltry, at best. One of the most, if not the most bothersome aspects of The Town is the message that it clearly conveys; that it's okay to steal and rob innocent people of money that they don't deserve to lose, to terrorize, permanently maim, put innocent bank employees and customers' lives and safety at risk, to abet an armed felon and wanted fugitive (Doug MacRay, the ringleader)to escape the law by getting involved romantically with him, allow him to buy expensive Tiffany diamond necklaces for one, and make utter dupes of law enforcement people who've been assigned to bring guys like Doug MacRay to justice and end their robbery careers once and for all, by lying to the Feds, and tipping an armed felon off to them and helping them escape. I think it's totally wrong.

Oh, and why is it okay for good-girl Claire to receive stolen goods and spend money on the renovation of a seedy hockey rink and dedicate it to her criminal boyfriend's mother who she never knew?

Hey...come on...Doug put the romance moves on Claire when he met her, in order to shut her up and warn her oh, so subtlely not to talk to the Feds or else! One's supposed to think that Doug really loves Claire and is attrracted to her by her winsome personality, but nothing could be further from the truth, imo. He found Claire attractive, in that she was clearly vulnerable after being traumatized by him and his guys after they held up her bank at gunpoint enough to make her quit her job as a bank manager, and therefore quite gullible and open to exploitation. Almost as soon as Doug got what he wanted out of Claire (a promise not to go to the cops or the Feds), he left the money in her garden and skipped town for Florida, because he was on the lam from the law and couldn't elope with Claire and exploit her as a bargaining chip, the way he'd wanted to do.

It's funny how most people don't realize that Doug was a sociopath who totally exploited the women in his life; Krista for sex, and he left her with nothing, even though he knew she had a young child to take care of (who might or might not be Doug's), and Claire, who he thought he could elope to Florida with, but could not, after having charmed her into trusting him and then worming his way into her heart so that she'd shut up and not talk to the Feds. One is supposed to sympathize with both Doug and Claire, but, in reality, neither of them deserved any sympathy.

Imho, when the Feds had Claire and Doug meet at her Charlestown condo in a last-ditch effort to nab Doug MacRay and send him off to a Federal penitentiary for his crimes, the Feds should've made Claire keep her big fat mouth shut, not call Doug, and let them do their job of arresting Doug and bringing him to prison for his crimes.

Doug deserved to end up in a penitentiary for his crimes, and Claire deserved to be criminally prosecuted herself, or at least put on some sort of probation for abetting Doug and for receiving stolen goods (Doug's illl-gotten heist money).

I'm sorry, folks, but I cannot bring myself to be sympathetic to either Doug or Claire, who, imho, turned out to be the most dislikeable, and annoying characters in The Town. What most people don't realize is that Doug is an armed felon and wanted fugitive who's on the lam from the law, so he's not going to Florida on vacation. Happily, there;s no way that he and Claire will ever meet again, but the fact that Claire didn't turn to Frawley for help after learning the truth about Doug and reallizing that she was in over her head, is beyond stupid, and wrong.

The fact that Doug and Jem beat the crap out of two Dominicans from a housing project who'd supposedly thrown bottles at Claire when she'd been stupid enough to walk by herself through a housing project (no woman in her right mind would do that, at any time of night or day) and permanently cripple them shows that Doug, as well as Jem, is a man of unprovoked violence. My, my...Lady Claire must've felt flattered that two armed felons who were also wanted fugitives from the law came to her defense! Pretty sickening, this whole thing.

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I agree...I didn't think it was that great. There wasn't anything original about it. I told friends it was like a Irish Heat. But ...crappier.

Thanks, PJ Movies.

The fact that so many people can fall for something as junky as The Town almost defies belief! Since I never saw Heat, I can't compare it to that particular movie, but I agree with people who say that The Town is a rip-off of movies such as The Friends of Eddie Coyle and, to a certain degree, The French Connection.

I've always liked action movies as well, but there are better heist movies, etc., than The Town.

How is Affleck's Boston accent forced and overdone when he is from Boston? Did you think his part in Good Will Hunting was forced too? I completely disagree with the cast being mediocre, so would the Academy. Renner was up for Best Supporting Actor.

I don't think anyone considers Doug a hero or a 'good-guy'. He robs banks for a living for crying out loud.

People need to stop comparing heist films to Heat. It's getting tiresome. Just compare it to Takers and then people will think it's a masterpiece.

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Suspect's Reviews

THANK THE GODS FOR THIS THREAD.

I have been waiting and wishing for this moment. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with this write-up. I did not understand why SO many critics/peers/bloggers/reviewers praised this movie. It took a bunch of elements from MUCH BETTER films and slapped 'em all together.

If it wasn't for Jeremy Renner's involvement with this movie, I definitely would have passed it up. Sadly, his performance was not enough to sway my opinion.

Ben Affleck is a joke, I don't understand his appeal. He's a mediocre actor, a mediocre director, and overall I just don't think the guy is all that special.

I have been hating on "The Town" since my blogging days back in 2010, and it was nearly impossible to find anyone in my blogosphere who felt the same way I did. Glad to see someone else unleashing their rage upon "The Town"

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Tell us what ya' really think.

It's just nice to know that there are others who felt the same way I did. It's maddening to see a film that you either love/hate and realize that the general consensus goes against how you felt.

I didn't absolutely HATE it, but I didn't LIKE it either. Deffinately didn't love it. It's one of those movies that didn't even stick in my mind after watching it. I'm usually one to analyze a movie after watching it but this one wasn't anything special. If anyone on the forum whos reading this has NOT seen it yet, don't waste your time. It's nothing special, new or original. Just a plain movie (with good actors) but the story line for whatever reason doesn't do a good job drawing in the audience and it's not memorable.
So I agree w/ yoda and filmgirlinterrupted

I didn't find the film downright atrocious, but I definitely did not think it deserved to be nominated for an Oscar, nor does it deserve anything about a 6.7 on IMDb.

You're describing the majority of movies here, except most don't have "good actors". With what do you think you're agreeing with Yoda in this post?

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Why are people freaking out on this movie? It wasn't nominated for Best Picture or anything. Wow.

It's nothing new for WSSlover. One-third of her previous 40 posts have trashed The Town.

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I felt that I really had to lay it on the line once and for all about what I really though of The Town, instead of dropping little hints here and there. Imho, The Town really is a piece of trash, and, if other people like it, so be it. What really does bother me, however, is the fact that there are so many people (not on here, thank heavens), but elsewhere who have the nerve to trash people who don't agree with the majority of critics and moviegoers alike who praise The Town.

I never saw the film Heat, so I can't compare The Town with that movie, but I'll say this: Ben Affleck just sounds too polished and refined to really pull off the thick Charlestown/Boston accent off and seem natural.

So, robbing banks and armored trucks for a living, putting the very lives and safety of innocent bank employees and customers at risk in order to steal the money of innocent people who don't deserve to lose it is okay? Oh, no...I don't believe that.

Exploiting a poor, scared bank manager and taking advantage of her and putting the romance moves on her in order to stop her from blowing one's cover as they kick over her bank and abduct her at gunpoint is okay? I don't think so.

Claire was stupid enough to rise to the bait, which is unfortunate. Was she really so dimwitted that she didn't have a clue as to what Doug was up to when he approached her in the laundromat, cracking stupid jokes and giving her these leering looks? Come on now.

Thanks, filmgirlinterrupted. You've made some great points that're well taken, but the first sentence in your post really states what one of the big problems with The Town really is. The reason that there's so much praise heaped on The Town in the blogosphere, among average real-life moviegoers, and among real life movie critics is because the dumbing down of America is continuing, if one gets the drift.

It wasn't a great film but I liked it. I thought the acting was good and the story, though done before, was well done. It was certainly better than a lot of other big budget heist films. Ben Affleck is doing pretty well as a director. I don't see how this film is "dumbing down America" if anything that should be said about the Transformers films or any Michael Bay film for that matter. I think The Town was a good film for what it was. I do think it was a step down for Ben Affleck from Gone Baby Gone but was still a good effort.

The Town was a great movie. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 94%, Metacritic gave it a 74 out a 100, Imdb gave it a 7.7/10. i myself would give this movie a .

Okay this has been done plenty of times and comparing it to Heat is just silly. Heat was a fantastic movie and i dought it will be topped with any other bank heist movie anytime soon. Over the past few years we have seen hardley anything original to hit the big screen its been all about the sequels and remakes. So to take a pop at this movie for not being original, then you may aswell take one at another couple of hundred movies while at it.

Let's put it this LuDiNaToR: Again, to each their own, but I really did feel that The Town was overrated, and not that well done. One doesn't always have to agree with the mainstream of opinion regarding movies, or anything else. The characters were underdeveloped, it was not a good cast, and there was too much slip-shod, slap-happy editing on the part of Ben Affleck and his assistant producer(s). The Town had the potential for being a really good, or even a great film, but Ben Affleck totally blew it, imho. There was too much exploding on the screen, and the Fenway Park and the North End scenes were way overdone.

The movie could've done with far less of the Doug/Claire romance, which was immature at best; they were like two young teens starting out on their first romance. Doug, with his so-called heart of gold, was really only out to protect himself and his friends from going back to prison, and Claire, I'm sorry to say, was like a deer who'd been caught in the headlights of a car. She had a constant look of helpless surprise about her, and the fact that she quit her job not long after the robbery due to her being traumatized by Doug and his buddies having kicked over her bank and kidnapped her at gunpoint says something right there; about Doug and his friends, and about her.

Claire may have started out as an innocent victim, but she was beyond stupid to take up with Doug, a perfect stranger, and to fall for his deceitful behavior in the first place, to stick with Doug even after learning what he was up to, and after the Feds caught them together red-handed, for abetting Doug by tipping him off to the Feds, thus allowing him to go free, and for receiving stolen goods. Sorry, but that's my take on it. No sympathy for either one of them.

I also might add that The Town failed to win any Oscars for a reason; it didn't deserve any oscars. No matter what anybody else says or thinks, The Town will never, ever be a classic that'll be remembered years from now in everybody's hearts and minds like West Side Story, for example.

Overrated, yes, but bad? No. I thought the action set pieces and heists were well-done. Ben Affleck, however, was bad; fortunately he had Renner's great performance to compensate.

I'd say the worst part of the film was the ending, which was ********. Even despite the awful ending, I'd give it roughly a .