The Town

September 18.

Who knew Ben Affleck would be such a good director and even a really good actor? He does both brilliantly in "The Town."

The action-packed first scene drew me in and I stayed there the whole time. The story about a gritty bunch friends robbing banks in Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston, reminded me a lot of a Martin Scorsese film. Affleck uses a mix of great actors and real Boston people to let the viewer into the lives of these people who have never even imagined living any other way.

The story starts with a bank robbery gone awry and a hostage being taken. To make sure she's no threat Doug (Affleck) follows the hostage and starts a relationship with her. I will always get caught up in rooting for relationships like this but she has to find out that he was her kidnapper, doesn't she?

Although that is the main story there are a lot of side stories based on the relationships of the makeshift family and an additional side story involving Jon Hamm as the FBI agent out to find the group of robbers.

I'm sure this is just the beginning of Affleck's movies and I wonder if he'll ever make one set outside of Boston, but either way, I can't wait to see more.