The Town

I saw The Town, this afternoon and give it enthusiastic thumbs up. I love love love Jon Hamm from Mad Men, and he gets to show his acting chops as an FBI agent, with his own demons, chasing a gang of Boston bank robbers. Hamm's character, SSA Farley dubs the gang the "not fucking around gang", because they are ruthlessly efficient in throwing the authorities off their trail. The gang hails from an area of Boston called Charlestown, that is known for producing bank robbers, a "skill" passed down from father to son.

The police and FBI are fairly certain they know the members of the gang, but there is never any forensic evidence to tie them to any of the crime scenes. Ben Affleck does double duty as director and, plays Doug McCray, also known as the Architect, because he plans the heists with absolute precision, so that no one gets hurt and they don't get caught. Of course there is always the crazy, reckless guy in the gang who is itching to shoot someone, and James Coughlin fills that role admirably. He plays crazy very well. Why is it that the sane one in the gang is always beholden to the crazy one in some way???

The plot centers around a bank job that the gang pulls and Coughlin "tunes up" the manager, giving the assistant, Clair Keesy (Rebecca Hall/Vicki Christina Barcelona) an opportunity to trip the silent alarm. McCray sees her do it, but doesn't let on and Coughlin decides to take her hostage. They let her go after they escape, only to find she lives in the Charlestown. They fear she might be able to somehow identify them even though they wore masks. None of the others have the stomach for murder, but Coughlin starts talking ominously about "taking care of her." McCray assures him he will handle things with Claire, and in the process, falls in love with her. Claire doesn't recognize him and still bruised from the trauma of the robbery, is drawn into a relationship with him.

The gang gets tapped by the local mob boss to pull a big heist at Fenway Park. McCray at first refuses, but after they threaten Claire, he agrees. Can McCray pull one last job, get the girl and change his life? It's a tall order, for sure.

Ultimately the film is about redemption, with some justice mixed in for good measure. In the end McCray, in spite of the pervasive bleakness of his life, hangs onto hope and "hope" as someone once said, "is a good thing."

The Perfect Getaway

The Perfect Getaway is a suspense thriller about two couples hiking a remote trail in Hawaii when they hear reports of psychopaths stalking and killing tourists in the vicinity. Steve Zahn plays Cliff Anderson a screenplay writer, recently married to Cydney (Mila Jovovich). After being harassed by a very creepy couple who appears to be following them, they join Nick (Olyphant) and Gina (Kiele Sanchez) hiking along a remote trail which requires permits to enter the area. Nick is a "hard to kill" special ops Iraq veteran and Gina is a a tough as nails southern girl who knows how to handle herself. There is a scene where Nick goes off into the woods and kills a goat, and Gina field dresses it without blinking an eye.

When they start hearing the reports about the killers, Cliff, in particular, gets very anxious about being in such a remote area with a couple he knows little about. Nick comes off as a little crazy, harping on Cliff to write a screenplay about his exploits in Iraq. Eventually the creepy couple shows up again and things start to heat up as the fight for survival begins.

The film does a good job building the suspense and you get to see Timothy Olyphant without his shirt a lot, which is always a good thing. Kiele Sanchez, a relative unknown, hits just the right notes as tough, but also kind of sweet. If you have ever watched the The Glades on A&E you will recognize her. Mila Jovovich, who usually plays a bad ass in The Resident Evil series, gets to play against type as a newlywed who wants to settle down and raise kids. I liked the characters and the suspense and a shirtless Timothy Olyphant certainly didn't hurt :)