Omss-Culture: Culturebox: Boston. Boston. Boston. Ben Affleck.



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movies Boston. Boston. Boston. Ben Affleck. Don't say I didn't warn you about The Town. By Dana Stevens Posted Friday, Sept. 17, 2010, at 12:30 PM ET An autopsy for *The Town* (Warner Bros.) would list multiple causes of death. Ben Affleck's second directorial outing after Gone Baby Gone also marks his first time directing himself, a notoriously difficult trick to pull off. Next, there's the laudable but misguided scope of the movie's ambition: Affleck tries to cram a heist thriller, a buddy movie, and a wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance into one sweeping two-hour-plus epic. What ultimately kills The Town, though, is the notion that Ben Affleck is a criminal mastermind, a bank-robbing prodigy with a crack team of thugs at his command. We don't want Affleck the mastermind, we want Affleck the meathead. (His greatest role to date, *Slate* culture editor John Swansburg and I agree in the Spoiler Special podcast for this review, is still O'Bannion, the wooden-paddle-wielding high-school bully in Dazed and Confused.) If the two male leads in this movie had switched places--Jeremy Renner as the brains of the holdup gang, Affleck as his dim, sadistic right-hand man--the story might conceivably have worked (though given Affleck's limited resources as a thespian, the optimum solution would have been for Renner to play both roles.) To continue reading, click here. Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate If Christine O'Donnell Loves Individual Freedom So Much, How Can She Oppose Masturbation? The Defeat of Mike Castle Deals a Huge Blow to Election Reform Why Are Businessmen So Obsessed With Golf?	Advertisement
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Now playing: *Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V* at www.slatev.com.
movies Boston. Boston. Boston. Ben Affleck. Don't say I didn't warn you about The Town. By Dana Stevens Posted Friday, Sept. 17, 2010, at 12:30 PM ET An autopsy for *The Town* (Warner Bros.) would list multiple causes of death. Ben Affleck's second directorial outing after Gone Baby Gone also marks his first time directing himself, a notoriously difficult trick to pull off. Next, there's the laudable but misguided scope of the movie's ambition: Affleck tries to cram a heist thriller, a buddy movie, and a wrong-side-of-the-tracks romance into one sweeping two-hour-plus epic. What ultimately kills The Town, though, is the notion that Ben Affleck is a criminal mastermind, a bank-robbing prodigy with a crack team of thugs at his command. We don't want Affleck the mastermind, we want Affleck the meathead. (His greatest role to date, *Slate* culture editor John Swansburg and I agree in the Spoiler Special podcast for this review, is still O'Bannion, the wooden-paddle-wielding high-school bully in Dazed and Confused.) If the two male leads in this movie had switched places--Jeremy Renner as the brains of the holdup gang, Affleck as his dim, sadistic right-hand man--the story might conceivably have worked (though given Affleck's limited resources as a thespian, the optimum solution would have been for Renner to play both roles.) To continue reading, click here. Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate If Christine O'Donnell Loves Individual Freedom So Much, How Can She Oppose Masturbation? The Defeat of Mike Castle Deals a Huge Blow to Election Reform Why Are Businessmen So Obsessed With Golf?	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters on Slate Unsubscribe \| Newsletter Center \| Advertising Information Please do not reply to this message since this is an unmonitored e-mail address. If you have questions about newsletters, please go here.
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to newsletters@slate.com. Copyright 2010 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC \| Privacy Policy Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive \| c/o E-mail Customer Care \| 1150 15th Street NW \| Washington, D.C. 20071

Culturebox: Boston. Boston. Boston. Ben Affleck.

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