Movie Review Punisher Warzone

Punisher Warzone (2008) 

Directed by Lexi Alexander

Written by Nick Santora, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway 

Starring Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Julie Benz, Dash Mihok, Wayne Knight 

Release Date December 5th, 2008 

Published December 5th, 2008 

That sound you have been hearing for weeks as commercials aired for Punisher Warzone with the collective America all screaming "WHO" when the name Ray Stevenson was touted. Who the hell is Ray Stevenson? He was one of the stars of HBO's well respected series Rome.

Of course, that show never averaged more than 2 million viewers per airing in its two seasons and only 200,000 of those viewers are likely to be able to recognize good ol' Ray as Titus Pullo. So why does Lionsgate tout Ray Stevenson? Who knows.

They would have been much better off touting the film's extraordinary violence. Punisher Warzone cuts more throats, explodes more heads and spills more fake blood than any three of the Saw films combined. The perverse level of violence and the director's lingering camera as said violence commences reaches an almost entertaining level of kitsch.

Almost.

Ray Stevenson (Yes, that Ray Stevenson) stars as Frank Castle, an ex-special forces soldier whose family was killed in cold blood. Now he spends his days hunting the wicked and has set his sights on the local mob. Led by the sadistic Billy Russoti (Dominic West) this collection of mobsters are some of the most offensive goomba stereotypes in history.

Most of these Italian stereotypes are just cannon fodder for Frank who in the opening scenes swings into action slicing heads, necks and limbs. He is soon swinging upside down from a chandelier shooting a pair of guns that mow down a roomful of gangsters, murdering not just goombas but the laws of physics as well.

It comes down, of course, to a battle between Frank Castle and Russotti who by the end has been renamed Jigsaw, an affront to the exceptional baddie from the Saw movies. There are a couple of cops involved as well, Dash Mihok and Colin Salmon play a pair of the worst cops in movie history.

Director Lexi Alexander shows one thing in Punisher Warzone,  you don't have to be a man to record some seriously hardcore violence. Alexander in fact pushes beyond even her most perverse counterparts, leading one to wonder if her gender played a role in her choice to  include so much violence. If so, what was she trying to prove?

Punisher Warzone is violent in ways so outlandish you almost have to admire it. I don't admire it but I was mildly amused. Unfortunately, director Alexander fails to go for the full on kitsch and the movie bogs down when there isn't blood being spilt. That takes the film from so bad it's good to just plain bad.

Movie Review Iron Man

Iron Man (2008) 

Directed by Jon Favreau 

Written by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Shaun Toub

Release Date May 2nd, 2008 

Published May 1st, 2008 

Tony Stark has lived a life of glorious privilege since birth. His father was part of the group that invented the A Bomb. That allowed Tony's dad to build a weapons manufacturing empire. By the time Tony Stark became a grown-up, he was a billionaire. He was also an orphan as his parents were killed in an accident some years before this story begins. 

With power, money and women all at his feet things could not be any more perfect for Tony Stark. He was left only for a fall. That fall comes when Tony is captured by Afghan terrorists after demonstrating his latest weapon for the military. The terrorists want Tony to build them his new weapon from the scraps of his weapons that they have somehow purchased.

Tony has other plans. With the help of a fellow captive (Shaun Toub, Crash) Tony builds a new kind of weapon, a giant iron suit that he will use to escape. This prototype suit allows Tony to fight his way out of the clutches of the bad guys and into a well timed rescue by the military, lead by Tony's pal General Rhodes (Terrence Howard).

Returning home, Tony decides to change his ways. While perfecting his iron suit weapon he makes the rash decision to take his company out of the weapons business, against the advice of his father's business partner Obediah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Vowing to protect the people he put in harms way with his weapons of mass destruction, Stark creates Iron Man and goes to war with terrorists and their benefactors.

Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man is classic blockbuster, summer movie fare. Larger than life characters, good versus evil, big time action and a sense of humor. Iron Man has it all and in the person of Robert Downey Jr. it has a soul and depth that similar movies (I'm looking at you Fantastic Four) don't have.

Downey is not your prototypical action star and given his history of drug and alcohol abuse, he's the last actor you would imagine as the star of a summer blockbuster. That is however what makes his casting so inspired. Hiring a real actor as opposed to some hunky stand-in (Tom Welling anyone?), gives Iron Man the kind of depth that it would take other actors a lot more work to establish.

Surrounded by an exceptional supporting cast of Oscar nominees, Terrence Howard, Oscar winners, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and crafty veterans, Jeff 'The Dude' Bridges, Shaun Taub, Downey sparkles and Iron Man transcends the typical summer movie. Iron Man is not without flaws, it takes a while to get to the red and gold suit, the editing of the big fight scene is a little muddled, but overall this is a terrific summer entertainment.

Movie Review Spiderman 3

Spiderman 3 (2007) 

Directed by Sam Raimi 

Written by Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sargent 

Starring Tobey Maguire, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, J.K Simmons 

Release Date May 4th, 2007 

Published May 3rd, 2007 

It was bound to happen. The law of diminishing returns had to kick in at some point. For some film franchises; it happens right away (Matrix Reloaded, anyone?). For some; a good run continues (We’ll see what happens with Shrek and Harry Potter soon). Other film franchises have never gotten off the ground creatively (How did we get a second Fantastic Four and a third Rush Hour?).

But, for one of the great franchises of all time, a great run doesn’t exactly end as much as it ebbs. In Spiderman 3 a great franchise doesn’t jump the shark, to appropriate a TV term, rather it levels off with a first mediocre entry. Failures in logic, underwritten villains and overripe melodrama, can’t sink a great franchise but it does bring an unsatisfying end.

When last we left Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) he had revealed himself as Spiderman to the woman he loves Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and she had run away from her wedding to be with him. Now, Peter is ready to take the relationship to the next level and ask Mary Jane to be his wife.If only things could be that simple.

Unfortunately for Spiderman a trifecta of villains has other plans for the webslinger's future. First there is Peter’s ex-best friend Harry Osbourne (James Franco) who believes Spiderman killed his father and wishes for revenge. Then there is Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church) a petty thief who stumbles into some kind of science experiment and becomes the Sandman.

Finally, the third villain, for a time, is Peter himself. With New York finally coming to see Spidey as a real hero, things are going to Peter’s head. He is soaking up the love and admiration of the public and is beginning to neglect his relationship with Mary Jane. When a meteor filled with a lively black goo slams into the earth it attaches itself to Peter Parker and its power is transformative.

The problems with Spiderman 3 are going to be obvious and overbearing for some and easily forgivable for others; but they should be obvious to everyone. Director Sam Raimi, in a rush to cram a whole lot of plot into not a lot of space, cuts a few to many logical corners. Coincidence and contrivance takes the place of rational plotting.

Characters make decisions based on what is needed for the scene even if it contradicts previous behavior. More than once a character arrives somewhere because the plot needs them and not for any other logical reason. One character holds on to a piece of information that could have been helpful as far back as Spiderman 2. This previously insignificant character happens to hold this info until just the moment that it is needed in this plot.

Despite the logical leaps and the abuse of coincidence and contrivance, there is still much to enjoy in Spiderman 3. The computer graphics continue to be cutting edge. The action and CGI work together in dazzling effect. The scene in which Flint Marko becomes the Sandman is a visual mind blower as we watch Thomas Haden Church pulled apart atom by atom until there is nothing but sand.

Then; there are the fight scenes which grow bigger with each successive battle. Peter versus Harry, fighting in mid air. Spidey taking on Sandman inside and outside a moving brinks truck and the battle at the end between Spider and the tandem of Sandman and that villainous black goo, which attached itself to a new host, are all terrific scenes and more than enough reason for me to recommend Spiderman 3.

Later this summer Shrek will try to avoid its own jump the shark moment. Meanwhile Pirates of the Caribbean will try and bounce back from a lackluster follow up. Every franchise is different but each will have a low point. If Spiderman 3 is the low point for the Spiderman franchise then we can look forward to more great things from our friendly neighborhood Spiderman the next time he swings into theaters.

Movie Review Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 (2004) 

Directed by Sam Raimi

Written by Alvin Sargent 

Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Rosemary Harris 

Release Date June 30th, 2004 

Published June 29th, 2004 

The first Spider-Man was a spectacular adventure that surprised a lot of critics with its depth and terrific characters. Spider-man 2 is likely to surprise even more. Free of expository scripting, this sequel leaps into the fray and delivers something most sequels cannot, a follow up that is more than worthy of its original.

2 years have passed since Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) was bitten by that radioactive spider and Spider-man has continued saving innocent New Yorkers from all sorts of peril. Still, he is not quite the hero you would expect. Spider-man is still consistently vilified by the maniacal newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons). Worse yet, his Spidey powers are coming and going, often leaving him falling from the sky and in pain.

As for Peter Parker, well, he's getting it worse than his alter ego. It does not pay to be a superhero so Peter is forced to take odd jobs to pay for his tiny one-bed-no-bath apartment. Unfortunately, his web slinging duties tend to make him late for work and thus he gets fired a lot, including from his latest job delivering pizzas. Peter's Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is close to losing her home and blames herself for the death of her husband Ben. Peter has not told her what really happened.

Peter is also failing his college courses, too often late to class where his professor (Dylan Baker) is ready to fail him unless his paper on the legendary scientist Otto Octavius is good enough to save him. Doctor Octavius (Alfred Molina) just happens to be working for Peter's friend Harry Osbourne (James Franco) at Oscorp where he is developing a dangerous new energy source with the help of four massive metal tentacles that fuse to his spine. You can tell this is going to go bad and it does. Octavius' experiment blows up, killing his wife and leaving the tentacles permanently fused to his back. Worse yet, somehow the tentacles are now in charge and they want to try the experiment again.

Of course that is not Peter Parker's biggest problem. No, his biggest problem is still his unrequited love of Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). In the two years since Peter told Mary Jane they could never be together, she has become a successful actress and model. Her face is plastered all over the city, a constant reminder to Peter of what he has given up to be Spider-man. Mary Jane has finally tired of waiting for Peter and has told him she is going to marry Astronaut John Jameson (Daniel Gillies).

That is a minor gloss of this wonderfully dense and well-conceived plot. Director Sam Raimi and writer Alvin Sargent, with an assist by writer Michael Chabon amongst others, have concocted a rare action-adventure film with a life outside of its computer graphics.

Filled with humor, sadness and life, this is a script worthy of attention of awards shows. The middle portion of the film is especially good. Peter Parker gives up being Spider-man and while his grades are up and he may finally be able to be with Mary Jane, crime goes up 75% and even Jonah Jameson wishes Spidey would come back. With Doc Ock on the loose, you know Spidey will be back but this terrific script and cast make this obligatory decision a seamless part of the story and the maturing of Peter Parker.

The script nods endlessly to its comic book source. The scene where Peter tosses his Spidey suit in an alley garbage can is a direct lift from the comic book. Extraneous characters like John Jameson and the doctor who treats Peter after he thinks he's lost his powers, Dr. Curt Connors, are both historic characters from the comic book. Both go on to have serious accidents that lead them to becoming villains in the comic, FYI.

There is also a bit at the end involving James Franco's Harry Osbourne that relates to one of the comics all time best storylines. Fans of the comic who recognize these characters are drooling over which will be the big baddie of Spider-man 3.

What a loss it would have been if rumors prior to the film’s shooting had come true and Tobey Maguire had been dropped as Spider-man. No offense to Jake Gyllenhaal who was rumored to take over for Maguire, but Spider-man is clearly Maguire's role. Maguire has not always been one of my favorite actors. I've always found his earnest nerdiness and dewy eyed look cloying. Somehow, Maguire turns those negatives into positives for both Spider-man and Peter Parker. His nerdy exterior is the perfect cover for the superhero inside, his nervousness and quavering voice as Peter Parker is the essential yin to Spidey's confident superhero yang.

The chemistry between Maguire and Kirsten Dunst is tremendous and the love story is almost as exciting as the CGI fight scenes. Almost. These are some impressive effects, but I digress. There are real fireworks when Peter and Mary Jane are together. The unrequited love story has grown from the puppy dog crush of the first film to a deeper, more mature longing and we feel it every time they are together.

Now back to those effects. Science has not moved far enough yet to make Spider-man or his nemesis Doc Ock look completely seamless, but this is as close as anyone has come other than George Lucas. Doc Ock is a terrific-looking character. At first he seems kind of goofy looking, Alfred Molina is not the first actor you think of when you think of a comic book movie. However, once the character gets into fighting Spider-man it really gets good. The climactic battle on an elevated subway train is one of the most exciting action scenes ever. Ever!

If there is a criticism of Spider-man 2, it’s that there might not be enough of Spider-man himself. As good as Maguire is at being Peter Parker, that is where the film’s depth comes from. I can see where some audience members will be counting the seconds until Peter is back behind the mask. That for me is a minor criticism because whether it's Spider-man or Peter Parker, this movie is a terrific ride filled with emotion, humor and unbeatable action. As Roger Ebert said, this may be the best superhero movie ever made.

Movie Review: X2 X-Men United

X2: X-Men United (2003) 

Directed by Brian Singer

Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, David Hayter 

Starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden

Release Date May 2nd, 2003 

Published May 1st, 2003 

The first of 2003's many blockbusters is here. The sequel to the 2000 cash machine, X Men, X Men United once again has Professor Xavier's clan of mutants attempting to prevent a human-mutant war. The twist however in X2 finds our hero's on the same side as archenemy Magneto against an evil army general with a double secret agenda. The familiar story combines with spectacular effects for an enjoyable popcorn entertainment.

The film opens with a sensational effects scene involving a new mutant called Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) and an attack on the White House. Using his mutant ability to turn to smoke and float through walls, Nightcrawler evades the secret service and attacks the President. Through luck, the President's life is saved, but now the tentative peace between humans and mutants that started at the end of the first film is over.

Despite the efforts of Mystique (Rebecca Romijn Stamos who is not bad when she's not saddled with too much dialogue) disguised as the late Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), an army General named Stryker (Brian Cox) convinces the President that a strike against mutants is necessary. His target, Xavier's School for the Gifted, AKA the X-Men compound.

In the meantime, Professor Xavier has begun searching for Nightcrawler to uncover why he attacked the President. Xavier dispatches Storm (Halle Berry) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) to find Nightcrawler, while he and Cyclops visit archenemy Magneto (Ian Mckellen) to determine his involvement. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returns to the school just in time to take charge of the student while everyone is gone. Of course this is when Stryker and his army attack, forcing Wolverine to empty the school and go on the run.

With Rogue (Anna Paquin), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford), Wolverine heads for safety in the home of Iceman's parents. In one of the films most talked about scenes, Iceman "comes out" to his parents about being a mutant. It's not long though before the cops show and they are on the run again.

Once reunited with Storm and Jean, they find that the Professor and Cyclops are missing and they are being hunted by military jets as they escape in the X jet. After taking a hit the jet nearly crashes, they are saved at the last minute by the unlikely savior, the now free Magneto. With the mutual enemy of General Stryker, they must team with Magneto and Mystique to free Xavier and stop Stryker from launching the war against mutants.

Summer blockbusters aren't about great storytelling, they are about special effects and sly humor and X2 delivers both. Not only is there the awesome White House attack sequence, but also the jet fight with Storm attempting to lose the military jets in a series of tornado's that she creates.

Most of the film’s humor comes, surprisingly from Wolverine in subtle commentary in his surroundings. Thrown in to babysitter mode while the rest of the crew is hunting for Nightcrawler, Wolverine has some fun interaction with the students before the military attacks. Then as witness to Iceman's coming out, Wolverine's annoyance of his conventional surroundings are very funny. Jackman's gruffness is perfectly in tune with his humor.

The effects are strong, but suffer in comparison to the Matrix trailer that precedes it. The Matrix trailer was so good I missed the first couple minutes of X2, still reveling in Reloaded. That is not to say I wasn't impressed by X2 but it is made to look conventional by comparison.

The performances aren't much to be remembered Halle Berry's Storm gets more screen time this second time around but not much insight is made into the character. Jackman as Wolverine gets the most screen time and is undoubtedly the star but the more Wolverine is on the screen the less impressive he becomes. In comparison with Jean and Storm, Wolverine's powers, his adamantium claws and superhuman healing ability seem small. You know when it comes to the major save the world stuff it will be Storm or Jean doing the saving with Wolverine as a spectator.

Director Brian Singer does an efficient job of balancing his large cast and huge effects scenes, and while the story isn't all that impressive it's all very well choreographed and follows a certain logic. To balance all of this big budget stuff and make a film that is semi-coherent is a feat all on it's own. It's an entertaining popcorn film that effectively sets the stage for the next sequel. It's no Spider-Man, Batman or Superman, but it's still pretty good.

Movie Review The Company Men

The Company men (2011) 

Directed by John Wells 

Written by John Wells 

Starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson

Release Date January 21st, 2011

Published January 20th, 2011 

John Wells made his nut as the Executive Producer and creator of the hit series ER. For all intents and purposes John Wells never has to work again. Yet, with multi, multi, multi millions of dollars in the bank John Wells is hanging himself out there as a director and making the movie “The Company Men,” a real American Dream movie about a self made man who decides to risk it all for an ideal that has too long ago passed away in the overwhelming light of modern corporate/Wall Street culture.

Tommy Lee Jones is Gene McClary CFO of a company that used to make ships, now they make corporate deals that have next to nothing to do with shipbuilding. In fact, with every new move the company he formed with his best friend (Craig T. Nelson) gets further and further away from their humble beginnings in the stockyards. The people that came up with them are dropping like flies as every move of the stock price is accompanied by more layoffs and firings.

Among those losing their job in the corporate carnage is up and comer Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). As one of many heads of sales in the shipbuilding division; Bobby looked like a future CEO. Sadly, with shipping dying and his salary near the top he's out and he's not alone. Soon to join Bobby on the unemployment line is Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper) , a veteran salesman and one of Gene's oldest friends. Phil came up from building ships in the yard and now, just short of his retirement age he is out of a job.

Bobby's story comprises much of the runtime of “The Company Men” as he and his wife (Rosemarie Dewitt) cope with a big mortgage, two expensive cars and two frightened kids. Unwilling to swallow his pride Bobby scours the country for a job that will keep his family in their home. When he finally is forced to make a choice his only option is to take a temporary job working for his brother in law (Kevin Costner) working construction.

Phil's story is even darker and has a powerful and devastating conclusion that, though it is predictable, nevertheless impacts strongly. Chris Cooper is extraordinary as a man who fiercely clings to his pride to the point that it devastates him. Phil is the impetus for a hopeful and miraculous finish that I will leave you to discover by watching the wonderful fairy tale that is “The Company Men.”

The values at work in “The Company Men'' are deeply liberal but not in the stereotypical sense. “The Company Men '' exerts the true dream of liberalism, fair treatment for all. While the right accuses the left of simply wanting handouts, “The Company Men '' demonstrates a corporate titan and multi-millionaire who acts in the best interest of his employees and sets about using his money to create opportunities not handouts.

The notion is I am My Brother's Keeper. We are our brother’s keeper and that doesn't mean giving something away, it means that when you succeed you use your success to create an opportunity for others to succeed. I have always used a metaphor to demonstrate how I feel about people with money and people without and it goes like this: once you have climbed the wall to financial stability throw a rope back so that the next person can climb up there with you.

Too many of the rich in America are pulling the rope up behind them, taking their wealth and squirreling it away for reasons that only they understand. “The Company Men” gives life to my dream of a corporate culture where opportunities are created and success is decided by those who grab the opportunity given and make the most of it.

Tommy Lee Jones's Gene is fascinating because he does what so many with money will not do, he throws a rope back. It's not about him giving something away, he decides to create something, build something, innovate something and in the process he gives others the opportunity to create and innovate alongside him.

Thank you John Wells, “The Company Men” is a movie of relevance and necessity. This is the movie that so many other modern polemics wish they could be; a story of hope against the sorrow of our tough economic times. “The Company” Men is a guide post for how our country could get turned around if there were more men of means like Gene willing to take a risk and throw a rope back over the wall.

Movie Review: The Town

The Town (2010) 

Directed by Ben Affleck

Written by Peter Craig, Ben Affleck

Starring Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper

Release Date September 17th, 2010 

Published September 16th, 2010 

Ben Affleck has spent the past decade, give or take, getting a hard time for his choice of friends, relationships and films. Since his break out success, and Oscar win, for “Good Will Hunting,” the knives have been out for the Boston native. At times it's been deserved, “Armageddon” and “Gigli” are terrible films, oftentimes it has not been deserved, his personal life is none of our business and “Jersey Girl” was unfairly maligned by those attacking 'Bennifer.'

Though he may deny it, the digs did get to Affleck in the mid 2000's and it drove him away from Hollywood for a time. Back in Boston he got the nerve to go behind the camera and the result was the highly compelling crime drama “Gone Baby Gone” starring his little brother Casey. Growing bolder from that success, Affleck is back in front and behind the camera for his latest effort, another gritty crime drama, “The Town.”

In “The Town” Ben Affleck stars as Doug MacRay a life long resident of the crime riddled neighborhood of Charlestown. Doug was born into crime and as a grown up he has taken up the family business; robbing banks. With his highly efficient, professional crew, including his best friend Jem (Jeremy Renner), Doug plots highly detailed heists that leave law enforcement officials baffled.

The latest heist however has an unexpected twist. In a fit of pique over a silent alarm trigger, Jem takes the bank manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall), hostage, a first for this crew. Doug manages to convince Jem not to kill her but releasing her is a decision that will come to haunt them all.

With Jem suspicious of what Claire may have seen of the crew and wanting to go back and finish her off, Doug decides to protect his hot headed friend by tracking her himself. However, upon meeting Claire in person he is drawn to her and against all good judgment a romance develops.

As all of this happening an FBI Agent, Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm) catches the bank robbery case and seeing the level of efficiency involved, he becomes even more determined to catch the bad guys. Claire is the main lead and with her direct link to Doug you can imagine the intrigue and drama. Add Jem's growing suspicions and hothead tendencies to this mix and you have a recipe for piping hot drama.

”The Town” burns with drama, tension, excitement and action. Overcoming the challenge of directing and starring, Ben Affleck dominates the screen and turns in an Oscar caliber lead performance. The romance between Affleck and Rebecca Hall is subtle, natural and would be downright sweet if we weren't aware of just how it came to be.

Affleck and Hall do a tremendous job of bringing us into their world and nearly making us forget about the rest of the plot when they are together. That feeling is brilliantly shattered in the film's most effective scene, when Jem bumps into Claire and Doug having lunch at an outdoor cafe.

Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm are tremendous back up for Affleck and Hall in the leads. Renner's string of brilliant performances, stringing back to his stunning debut as Jeffrey Dahmer through last year's Oscar nomination for “The Hurt Locker,” continues here as he essays a hotheaded psycho who with a cool streak of mean that separates him from similar characters in other crime dramas.

Jon Hamm does something similar to Renner, taking a character that is quite familiar and giving the expectations a twist. The key to Hamm's performance is his focus on the job, being an FBI professional, right down to the clipped speech direct manner, over looking cool. Hamm is essentially the good guy, he's fighting criminals but he's not afraid of playing the heavy and letting the audience not like him even as we know from a moral standpoint we should admire him.

It’s a trick of the best crime dramas to get the audience to abandon their better judgment and come to root for the bad guys. It’s exciting to have your values challenged and live vicariously through eyes and lives of those who live outside the law. Most will never have this experience but we can all easily understand the allure of easy money and of the bad guys who do things we know we could never do.

Ben Affleck and the crew behind The Town certainly know this appeal of the bad guy and the bad deed and they cleverly manipulate that appeal to draw the audience into this criminal world as well as into the forbidden romance between Doug and Claire.

“The Town” is smart, compelling, fast paced and exceptionally well crafted. Watch out for Affleck at the Oscars as “The Town” could bring nominations for Ben in front of and behind the camera.