I’m flip-flopping between opinions on The Town because many reviews I’ve read call its direction ‘fresh’ and its writing ‘snappy’ or ‘sparkling’, and I’m in danger of being coerced by the critics* into believing that I enjoyed this bank heist thriller more than I actually did. That’s not to say that, on reflection, it doesn’t garner more praise than your average Hollywood A-List vehicle, but it’s just that immediately after watching it I felt like I’d been anticipating a new Heat and instead got Killing Zoe. As Mandela says, “Retrospection is a bitch, y’all.”

Directed by and starring distractingly bum-chinned stubble spokesperson Ben Affleck, the movie follows his professional criminal Doug MacRay and Jem (Jeremy Renner) as they rob Boston banks with a couple of Charlestown buddies in a manner that is more violent, methodical and intelligent than their peers.

The opening sequence sees them take out an establishment with precision and briefly capture the attractive young manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) before letting her out and escaping with the cash. The violent Jem threatens to silence her after he claims she may have seen too much, but MacRay, who has shown sympathy and an unwillingness to use violence, elects to tail her and sort things out in a more civilized manner. This inevitably leads to a romantic relationship between the pair which becomes the subject of scrutiny from MacRay’s criminal associates and the FBI.

MacRay follows the traditional route of attempting to escape his sorry lot by taking one last job, but intense pressure from law enforcement, the local mob boss Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite) and Jem means that things spiral ever-closer to the brink of disaster.

Let’s do positives first. The multiple bank heist set pieces are handled well, with some effective and jarring gun battles and car chases. There is an underlying tension to every scene, and the consistently brisk pace is always there to pull the viewer on to the next event just before things begin to drag. The male characters are developed gradually over the course of the film, and MacRay’s relationship with his jailed father and absentee mother really acts as a lynchpin upon which the other threads of the story can hang. The performances are also solid, although there is no outstanding turn to speak of, which is really down to the material and not the efforts of individual actors.

What really turned me off The Town was the romantic aspect of its plot, because I was far more interested in the relationship between MacRay, Jem and the local community of downtrodden, blue collar Townies than the heavy-handed, underdone interactions between MacRay and the middleclass outsider Claire. The presence of Jon Hamm’s FBI agent is also a sore point, because although he has a couple of decent speeches he actually ends up with a minor role to play. Axing or removing the emphasis on these two characters and rounding out the other personalities in the Charlestown underworld might have made The Town a little more satisfying. If doing so meant that the running time was extended then I’d have had no complaints, as the world of the film is generally engaging enough to deserve further exposition and investigation.

Despite what I’ve said I’d definitely recommend seeing The Town if you are in any way interested in this style of film. It’s far from the twee idiocy of the Oceans movies, and although it lacks the killer instincts of The Departed it definitely delivers bang for your cinematic buck.

*Who do they think they are?