Splice : Trade-off: Despite improvement as director, Affleck’s acting continues to underwhelm
Situated in the director’s chair for the second time of his rocky career, it is now clear Ben Affleck belongs behind the camera. His second picture, ‘The Town,’ demonstrates a perceptive handling of macho dialogue, brutal violence and trademarks of the gritty yet sophisticated style he established in his universally acclaimed debut, ‘Gone Baby Gone’ (2007).
That said, this film is far from perfect. Affleck’s lead performance is key in furthering the notion that he is a far better filmmaker than he is an actor. The film is eerily similar to Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’ (1995), which, being such an imitation, ultimately dilutes its wholesomeness as a Boston-bred crime saga.
Career criminal Doug MacRay (Affleck) is a product of his environment, a small pocket in Boston called Charlestown, famous for its high concentration of bank robbers. MacRay’s latest masked heist, which he pulled off with the help of comrades Jem (Jeremy Renner), Gloansy (Jr George Carroll aka Slaine) and Dez (Owen Burke), was lucrative, but flawed. The bank manager they took hostage, the pretty and intelligent Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), talks after the ordeal to the feds, led by FBI special agent Adam Frawley (John Hamm).
In an attempt to prevent the volatile Jem from murdering Claire, MacRay gets to her first and engages her in a conversation at a Laundromat. Their conversation leads to a date, and the two soon fall in love.
Eager to leave his life in Charlestown behind now that he’s found his soul mate, MacRay discovers getting out is harder than he anticipated. The boss of the Charlestown bank robbing ring, Fergus ‘Fergie’ Colm (a terrific Pete Postlethwaite), refuses to let MacRay walk, promising to murder Claire if he does. He wants MacRay and his boys to steal more than $3 million from a vault in Fenway Park: a final, treacherous risk MacRay feels is worth taking.
A few years ago, the notion of Affleck being considered an elite filmmaker surely would have sounded absurd. Yet it now appears he has as much potential as any young filmmaker in the industry. Affleck has yet to stray from his comfort zone, but his skill in directing actors as expertly as he choreographs dramatic and chaotic action sequences suggests his future as a director is indescribably bright.
The same cannot be said of his competence as an actor, however. One of the least talented leading men in Hollywood, Affleck is not a skilled enough performer to carry the main role in ‘The Town,’ even if he does have a great accent and looks the part. The same can be said of Hamm, whose lifeless performance feels downright apathetic at times. The supporting performances are nothing short of brilliant, however, with Renner delivering one of the finest turns of the year thus far as MacRay’s fierce right-hand man.
Much of the picture’s dramatic stock lies in the cop and robber rivalry of Affleck and Hamm, though said rivalry is practically nonexistent. At least a dozen of the film’s plot points and stylistic techniques may also be found in ‘Heat,’ though it lacks that masterpiece’s overwhelming muscular energy. Affleck and Hamm are not De Niro and Pacino, and the blandness of their struggle is aggravating when it is positioned as the primary conflict in an otherwise riveting work.
Affleck’s Boston crime saga is not as authentically gritty as ‘The Friends of Eddie Coyle’ (1973) or as stylish as ‘The Departed’ (2006), though it provides a great balance of depth and pure entertainment value. When that balance shifts toward more depth, Affleck will have transformed from a punch line into one of America’s most formidable filmmakers.
Published on September 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm
