A Rambling Movie Review

Yesterday I went and took in a mid-afternoon showing of the (kinda) new movie, The Town. Now, I admit since it was filmed in Boston I went in wanting to enjoy the movie, because I want to see anything linked to Boston to come out a success. Fortunately, The Town didn't need my pro-Boston slant, because it was really good on its own. The movie was well-written with nice pace and solid action throughout. There were only one or two scenes that I felt dragged on and despite those I never looked at my watch the entire time. Also I saw a bunch of locations that I have actually been to, so I know that it was filmed in Boston, which makes a huge difference. There is just something about a chase scene through streets that are 15 feet long before becoming one-way streets going in the opposite direction that make you know you are watching a movie that was actually made here, not on a Hollywood back lot with producers trying to cover it up by throwing in a shot of the Prudential Center. And because I like my Boston movies authentic, I want to especially take a second to compliment the actors on their use of the Boston accents. Unlike a couple a couple of actor's attempts in The Departed (Martin Sheen) it did not sound like the entire cast was attempting to do their best Ted Kennedy-meets-Mayor-Quimby impression for two hours.

Actually, the entire movie was very well-acted, which I was not expecting. While Jeremy Renner has emerged as a solid performer the last couple of years I didn't expect much beyond him. I mean, let's not kid ourselves - there is a reason Ben Affleck's Oscar was awarded for writing and not acting. (Which reminds me, Affleck apparently did some script work to make the dialog more authentic to Boston and if that is the case he deserves a tremendous amount of credit, because no one sounded like they were trying too hard.) But Affleck was pretty solid in a slightly restrained part and Jon Hamm was especially good, putting on just enough sleaze that you weren't sure if you liked him or not, which was the whole point of his character. Even Blake Lively, who I was told was horrendous, did a fine job. True, her role could have been played by a number of young actresses and it wouldn't have changed anything, but in a role that small you don't need a big-time actress - you just need someone who isn't going to murder the movie whenever she is on screen, which Lively did. It seems like most movies I have seen lately aren't worth the trip to the theatres and you could very easily wait for them to show up On-Demand, but I would definitely recommend you head out and see The Town on the big screen. It's worth the money.

-I woke up before dawn this morning to watch the Ryder Cup and stumbled over to the TV still half-asleep, only to be greeted with a rain delay. Apparently it is the rainy season over in Wales and they'll be lucky to finish this thing by Tuesday. Now, while I had no problem rolling over and going back to bed, Team USA had a bigger issue with the rain, because it turns out that their new Sun Mountain rain gear was not good at blocking actual rain. In fact, it appeared to be soaking in more water than it blocked. Seems like something that could have been tested at any point during last two years, especially since you knew that the team will be playing in a country known for its rain, but I guess they never got around to it. A team official had to run to the fan merchandise tent during the delay and buy new rain gain from a European company at a cost of about $550 per player. When I worked at Reebok, the marketing people always said that customers want to wear clothing as close to what the athletes are wearing as possible. Well, you can't get much closer than standing in line behind the guy ordering new uniforms.