Ben Affleck should direct all of the movies in which he appears. His performance as Doug MacRay, the smart leader of a band of bank robbers, is his best acting outing ever. The only thing he does better than acting in this movie is directing. I can hardly believe this was his picture.
The Town follows the story of a gang of bank robbers working out of a small town in Boston. All friends since childhood, they have a family type bond that they have long vowed would never be broken. Specifically, the film focuses on MacRay’s conflicts when he falls in love with a hostage (who was subsequently released) and considers leaving the gang and his life of crime behind.
But MacRay has problems in that his closest friend and psychotic robbing partner James Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) does not want him to bust up the group. And if that isn’t enough a determined FBI man (Jon Hamm from Mad Men) is tracking him and the gang. All of this comes together during the last third of the picture as the action goes supernova.
This is a very well made crime drama that also stars veteran actor Pete Postlethwaite as local crime boss Fergie Colm. Don’t miss this one.
Ben Affleck = Doug MacRay
Rebecca Hall = Claire Keesey
Jon Hamm = FBI S.A. Adam Frawley
Jeremy Renner = James Coughlin
Blake Lively = Krista Coughlin
Titus Welliver = Dino Ciampa
Pete Postlethwaite = Fergus “Fergie” Colm
Chris Cooper = Stephen MacRay
Inception is a crime movie. It is about a team of hi-tech criminals who are able to enter the dreams of the sleeping and steal information. Their leader is Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and he is the one that deals with the big corporations when they want to him to steal information and secrets from competitors.
The team is hired for a new assignment, which is to enter the dreams of the owner of a big Japanese conglomerate and steal some information. But when the job is bungled and the Japanese boss discovers what has been attempted, he makes Cobb an offer he can’t refuse.
The offer is to enter the dreams of the rival who hired him and plant thoughts into those dreams. The rival will awaken and believe these thoughts to be his own. The Japanese boss will then be able to use these false thoughts against him. In return, Cobb is promised that he will be reunited with his kids (they have been separated for reasons that are explained later in the film).
Cobb will do anything to see his kids again and agrees. The remainder of the movie follows the team setting up, training for and then executing the final plan.
You will not believe the special effects used in this movie. Sidewalks rising into the air, buildings sliding into the ocean, etc. Just remarkable.
Leonardo DiCaprio = Cobb
Joseph Gordon-Levitt = Arthur
Ellen Page = Ariadne
Tom Hardy = Eames
Ken Watanabe = Saito
Dileep Rao = Yusuf
Cillian Murphy = Robert Fischer, Jr.
Tom Berenger = Browning
Marion Cotillard = Mal
Pete Postlethwaite = Maurice Fischer
Michael Caine = Miles
Lukas Haas = Nash
Tai-Li Lee = Tadashi
Claire Geare = Phillipa (3 years)
Magnus Nolan = James (20 months)
Taylor Geare = Phillipa (5 years)
Johnathan Geare = James (3 years)
Tohoru Masamune = Japanese Security Guard
Yuji Okumoto = Saito’s Attendant
Earl Cameron = Elderly Bald Man
Ryan Hayward = Lawyer
Miranda Nolan = Flight Attendant
Russ Fega = Cab Driver
Tim Kelleher = Thin Man
Talulah Riley = Blonde
Nicolas Clerc = Bridge Sub Con
Coralie Dedykere = Bridge Sub Con
Silvie Laguna = Bridge Sub Con
Virgile Bramly = Bridge Sub Con
Jean-Michel Dagory = Bridge Sub Con
Helena Cullinan = Penrose Sub Con
Mark Fleischmann = Penrose Sub Con
Shelley Lang = Penrose Sub Con
Adam Cole = Bar Sub Con
Jack Murray = Bar Sub Con
Kraig Thornber = Bar Sub Con
Angela Nathenson = Bar Sub Con
Natasha Beaumont = Bar Sub Con
Marc Raducci = Lobby Sub Con
Carl Gilliard = Lobby Sub Con
Jill Maddrell = Lobby Sub Con
Alex Lombard = Lobby Sub Con
Nicole Pulliam = Lobby Sub Con
Peter Basham = Fischer’s Jet Captain
Michael Gaston = Immigration Officer
Felix Scott = Businessman
Andrew Pleavin = Businessman
Lisa Reynolds = Private Nurse
Jason Tendell = Fischer’s Driver
Jack Gilroy = Old Cobb
Shannon Welles = Old Mal