Ben Affleck to Write, Direct, and Star in The Town

[Travesty]

The movie didn't have consequences for him cause it tried to make his bad life the consequence of other's actions. His father/mother. The Flower guy. Gem's erractic behavior in killing for him and hanging it over his head. Sister's betrayal. Where he grew up. The ending was simply his reward for coming out alive.

That's the way I took it, too.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I feel like maybe I didn't express my point well enough



I didn't mean he was thoughtful like "he's such a gret guy" cause he wasn't like a said. The was the best of the worst cause the movie made a point of him not wanting to kill people in the robbers like Gem. Him wanting to get out of the life and that stupid hockey backstory.

I'm not saying you shouldn't feel the way you do cause I understand completely. I'm saying the movie was rigged to make him the hero by default, so I understand why people, like myself, were satisfied by it. By the time the final shootout came, we'd had his sobbing backstory, the betrayl by Gem's sister(even though she wanted to ride the coattails of someone else out of there just like him). Claire's rejection.

The movie didn't have consequences for him cause it tried to make his bad life the consequence of other's actions. His father/mother. The Flower guy. Gem's erractic behavior in killing for him and hanging it over his head. Sister's betrayal. Where he grew up. The ending was simply his reward for coming out alive.

And my point the whole time has been that I don't care that he had it tough, lots of people do but they don't go around being a criminal. So my point was the narrative was a silly skewed fairytale as opposed to the gritty reality based crime picture it touted itself as, and never gave any reason for me to feel he deserved to get out, thus I found the film very disappointing after his debut film.

 

[Travesty]

And my point the whole time has been that I don't care that he had it tough, lots of people do but they don't go around being a criminal. So my point was the narrative was a silly skewed fairytale as opposed to the gritty reality based crime picture it touted itself as, and never gave any reason for me to feel he deserved to get out, thus I found the film very disappointing after his debut film.

I'm not trying to interfere with your guys debate, but let me get this straight: You didn't buy it, because people who've had it rough, haven't all become criminals, right? But there are people who've had it rough, that have become criminals. So, what's the problem?

 

[Hunter Rider]

I'm not trying to interfere with your guys debate, but let me get this straight: You didn't buy it, because people who've had it rough, haven't all become criminals, right? But there are people who've had it rough, that have become criminals. So, what's the problem?

That's not what I was saying, I am saying he was a criminal and therefore didn't deserve to get off, I don't have sympathy for him because he grew up tough, lots of people have a hard upobringing and are good people so I'm not gonna feel sorry for a character because he had a tough upbringing.

 

[MadVillainy]

Also not trying to intefere in debate but Hunter Rider do you look at all crime movies the way that you look at The Town?

I dont think any of us condone what he does and I dont think we were meant to feel sorry for any of the criminal characters. Besides, Doug by movie criminal standards was pretty tame.

 

[MadVillainy]

Also not trying to intefere in debate but Hunter Rider do you look at all crime movies the way that you look at The Town?

I dont think any of us condone what he does and I dont think we were meant to feel sorry for any of the criminal characters. Besides, Doug by movie criminal standards was pretty tame.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Also not trying to intefere in debate but Hunter Rider do you look at all crime movies the way that you look at The Town?

I dont think any of us condone what he does and I dont think we were meant to feel sorry for any of the criminal characters. Besides, Doug by movie criminal standards was pretty tame.

We clearly were supposed to empathize with Doug and that was my issue with the script, it didn't make him nearly redeemable enough for the cheesy Florida ending to work.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

So my point was the narrative was a silly skewed fairytale as opposed to the gritty reality based crime picture it touted itself as.

Yeah. Totallly. That's why I used Robin Hood as an example. I didn't get the reality crime pic from it I guess. I totally caught the fairytale signpost from jump street.

I caught all the manipulations for the setup at the end. As soon as he told that Tangerine, Florida story I knew what was going to be in that garden. He didn't get Claire and all his friends were dead so he got something better but not a fairytale ending.

 

[MadVillainy]

well "empathize" is different than feeling sorry for.

I didnt empathize with Doug as a whole. I did empathize for him at maybe 2 parts of the film, but that's about it.

I dont think you need to empathize with a character for a good film any way. I didnt empathize with Bronson in Bronson or Alex in Clockwork Orange but I still loved those films

 

[Hunter Rider]

Yeah. Totallly. That's why I used Robin Hood as an example. I didn't get the reality crime pic from it I guess. I totally caught the fairytale signpost from jump street.

I caught all the manipulations for the setup at the end. As soon as he told that Tangerine, Florida story I knew what was going to be in that garden. He didn't get Claire and all his friends were dead so he got something better but not a fairytale ending.

I could see it coming as well but the trailers didn't depict it as such, so from my viewing perspective it was a limp and naive action movie as opposed to a riveting crime thriller that took a look at the dynamics of a robbery gang being hunted by this dedicated Fed, which was how the trailers sold it. I also think if failed at it's intended narrative as well because Doug was no Robin Hood, he was still a selfish criminal when all was said and done, even with the tacky disney ending. .

 

[Hunter Rider]

well "empathize" is different than feeling sorry for.

I didnt empathize with Doug as a whole. I did empathize for him at maybe 2 parts of the film, but that's about it.

I dont think you need to empathize with a character for a good film any way. I didnt empathize with Bronson in Bronson or Alex in Clockwork Orange but I still loved those films

I wouldn't have had an issue with it had the ending not been the sappy crap it was, but the film wasn't trying to take a look at a bunch of criminals like say Goodfellas, it was instead trying to make one of them seems like some kind of tragic hero, only the script did not portray him as such.

I don't need to empathize with the main character to enjoy a movie, I saw Black Swan the other night and I enjoyed it for what it was but I had no empathy at all for the lead character, however this film's central arc requires the viewer to empathize with Doug in order to make it's pay off work, and in my opinion it failed miserably in this regard.

 

[The FallenAngel]

My opinion on this one has done almost a complete 180. When it first came out, I loved it. Having seen it on DVD again, not so much. A lot of bad writing and acting I seem to have missed. Still think Jeremy Renner was excellent though.

 

[Mace Bloodstone]

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Anyone seen the extended version of this? I only ended up watching it recently and it has to be one of the view times I have preferred the theatrical cut to the extended one, the TC just works so much better.

 

[terry78]

Watching this on TNT now. A classic, and that is not hyperbole.

 

[MadVillainy]

This is a classic in my eyes too

 

[gohei_]

Anyone seen the extended version of this? I only ended up watching it recently and it has to be one of the view times I have preferred the theatrical cut to the extended one, the TC just works so much better.

I just finished with the extended cut. Haven't seen the regular one though.
I thought it was a pretty good movie but the accent was annoying as hell
It did have an editing error where there are two different scenes in where Doug tells Claire about his parents.

 

[DCW]

I was curious to see the alternate ending. Wasn't it supposed to be how the book ended?

 

[Naked Shia]

I think after DD he is done with superhero movies. He seems to really regret that movie.

nope!

 

[Travesty]

 

[Reek]

 

[Aesop Rocks]

rhymes with freak.

 

[Naked Shia]

Reek! Am I glad to see you! So did you think Ben Affleck had superhero fatigue too when they announced he was the new Batman? Because I surely didn't think Snyder had it!