The Town: A Dead-End Street

Forget the anti-hero, now we have full-on antagonist as protagonist. Historically, the anti-hero has had some form of redeeming humanity: he has a dog, is kind to old ladies, etc. But from what I saw in this Ben Affleck written-directed-and starring film, his character has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He and his crew rob a bank, beat the manager unconscious, kidnap the comely assistant manager and leave her blindfolded on a Boston area beach.

Then Affleck realizes he has the horn for the girl, stalks her with intent to kill her if she recognizes him, pretends to bump into her at a Laundromat, continuing a series of lies that stretches the entire length of the film. "I'll never lie to you . . . again!" he finally wails in agony once she discovers his perfidy.

And when she asks him if he's ever killed anybody (as if that's the only true measure of evil in the desiccated Charleston neighborhood of Boston), he says no. But the truth is, in the final shootout, he squeezes off a couple hundred rounds at the FBI, local cops, and the SWAT team, though the film editor never shows him hitting anyone. But I'm sure no one was hurt, and besides, if anyone was, he never intended to hurt them. "What, this? It's just a machine gun. I just fire it to scare 'em. I don't wanna hurt nobody. Really!"

And the sickest part? The bank manager falls for it. There's already one addled loser chick in the film, the sister of Affleck's psychotic crewmate, with whom Affleck has good time sex because, hey, she wanted it, didn't she? He might be the father of her child; we don't know for sure. But he's going to be faithful to the bank manager after they reunite in Tangerine, Florida. And she buys it! So every woman in this film is not only a slut, she's a moronic slut.

If this is what passes for civilization in Hollywood now, it's over.