Viewed in
2011
Formats
DVD
Premise
Ben Affleck stars as a Boston-area bank robber who falls for the woman who can identify his crew in a crime.
Liked
The acting, the action scenes.
Thoughts
A strong film that basically lived up to the hype.
What I liked best was the acting. The cast was phenomenal, from Jeremy Renner to Chris Cooper (albeit a very small part) to the late, great Pete Posthlethwaite. Everyone was excellent, putting in very human performances despite that most of their characters were criminals or had little screen time. Rebecca Hall and Blake Lively's performances were probably my favorites, though Jon Hamm got some of the juiciest cop lines since Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive.
Not only was Ben Affleck a sympathetic lead, he was was an efficient director. The action scenes were exciting but always served the story. He never resorted to distracting camerawork or visual effects, succeeding in telling chaotic heists and chases with entertaining clarity. With help of the editor, the pacing never had a dull moment, and the two-hours flew by ridiculously.
To nitpick the writing, I thought the story was a tad predictable, such as the lead falling for the key witness, and the obligatory unstable wild card of the crew. Though that slight flaw was easily compensated with well-written dialogue and character depth. It had a couple of creative twists, and the final heist sequence was unique and, for lack of better wording, really really cool.
In a way, this film had become underrated, simply because of its scarcity of Oscar nominations. For me, it matched my expectations and the hype. I thoroughly enjoyed this taught tale of crime with strong acting and writing giving the film some heart and brains.
What I would change
Nothing.
