Gone Baby Gone was one of the better movies of 2007 and it proved that Ben Affleck can direct. A few years later and Affleck is back with another Boston-based crime thriller that is reminiscent of both Gone Baby Gone and Heat. While this movie doesn't quite live up to the lofty standards of either, it does deliver on pretty much every level and compared to the rest of this year's action-thriller offerings, it's better than all of them. Plus I have to give this movie an A because it's just fun to see Affleck doing a Boston accent again. There really needs to be another Affleck-Damon pairing, and I wouldn't even mind a Good Will Hunting 2. Okay, I actually would mind that but some genius scriptwriter must have a Boston-based movie for them right? Maybe Celtic Pride 2: The Wrath of KG?
I thought The Town was another Dennis Lehane book but it's actually adapted from Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves. Sorry Chuck.
On another note, where will Jon Hamm's movie career go? He plays a FBI agent here and in the upcoming Howl he plays a lawyer. Neither are big stretches from the Don Draper persona and I'm convinced his hair is holding him back. It's just too old school to be taken seriously in non-businessy roles. What can he do with it? Here's a (bad) example: Jon Hamm in a bald cap as Lex Luthor. Yeah, no good. His hair is just too Draper-ish to be taken seriously as anything else. Actually maybe seeing Hamm smile is just kind of weird.
My friend Reena predicts a romantic comedy coming from Hamm soon, maybe something where he's a frazzled dad, but I'm really hoping that won't happen. And where will Elizabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks' movie careers go? I can't see either of them outside of the Mad Men era either. It's like I want them all to be financially rewarded for their talent and hard work but am wary of what roles they'll have to take in order to cash in.
