Ben Affleck’s ‘The Town’ is a Masterful Heist Movie that’s Now a Streaming Hit

One of Ben Affleck’s best films – and one of the greatest heist movies – has hit Hulu, and it is already climbing the top of the streaming charts. Released in 2010, The Town stars Affleck, Rebecca Hall, a pre-Hawkeye Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, and Blake Lively.

Based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, the film follows a group of thieves who rob a bank wearing nun masks and costumes, and briefly take a worker hostage (played by Hall). Things take a turn as Affleck’s character, Doug MacRay, falls in love with her.

The Town was a critical and box-office hit, earning $154 million globally on a $37 million budget. It received high praise from critics, particularly Renner’s performance as James ‘Jem’ Coughlin. It was named a Top 10 Film by the National Board of Review along with Best Acting by an Ensemble Cast. It sits at 92% Fresh by critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 85% by audiences.

Ben Affleck is an Accomplished Director

Movie fans can sometimes forget that Affleck is a very talented director and writer. He and long-time friend Matt Damon each won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for their Good Will Hunting script. Unfortunately, Affleck regularly ends up with gossip-style news coverage.

But there was a five-year stretch where Affleck directed three instant classic films, some of which he co-wrote or starred in: Gone Baby Gone (2007), The Town (2010), and Argo (2012), the latter of which won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture at the 2013 Oscars.

Gone Baby Gone was Affleck’s major feature debut as a director and is based on the 1998 novel by Dennis Lehane. The film, set in and around Boston, stars his brother, Casey, and Michelle Monaghan as private detectives searching for an abducted young girl. The all-star cast also includes Morgan Freeman, Amy Ryan, and Ed Harris. It’s certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 94% positive rating from critics and 86% from critics. Ryan was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar for her role.

Oscar-winner Argo is based on the real-life events of how a CIA agent, Tony Mendez (Affleck) helped six American hostages escape Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis, who were being held safe by the Canadian Ambassador. Mendez pretended to be a Hollywood producer looking to film a sci-fi movie and the hostages were part of the ‘crew.’ Despite not winning a Best Director Academy Award, Affleck walked away with multiple other awards, including at the British Academy Awards.

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Affleck followed up Argo with Live by Night (2016), which was an unfortunate critical and box office bomb set in Prohibition-era Boston. However, the story of Michael Jordan and Nike, Air (2023), was a critical and audience smash hit. Directed and starring Affleck as Nike founder Phil Knight, Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, and Viola Davis as Jordan’s mother Deloris, it has a 93% Fresh critical rating and 98% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was also nominated for, and won, several awards.

Next up for Affleck as director is Animals, which was put on hold while he starred in The Accountant 2, for Netflix. Animals is a thriller about the kidnapping of a Mayoral candidate’s son and the extent to which he’ll save him.

The Town is currently streaming on Hulu.

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Release Date

September 17, 2010

Runtime

125 minutes