10. THE TOWN

In his second effort as a director, Ben Affleck widened the scope and ambition of his story, while remaining faithful to his previous Boston set crime film, Gone Baby Gone. Like that film, The Town is awash with memorable characters that in most other films are glibly featured or merely given a single scene to be shine, then swiftly forgotten. The film refuses to feature a single character that fits the stereotype of its genre - even the ones that do skirt dangerously close to the fringes of cliche are made far more original with select contexts (the late Pete Postelthwaite's crimelord operates from a tiny florists).

The difficulty with The Town for an audience is being asked to take an enormous leap of faith. Fairly early on in the story this leap is offered to the audience. It is a ridiculous concept to fathom and as a result the film struggles to get over the hurdle. It does eventually conquer this bump primarily because everything else that is happening in the film is far more interesting than the central relationship between Affleck's crook and Rebecca Hall's former hostage.

Jon Hamm, the actor formerly known as Don Draper, is largely responsible for this; finally given a sizeable role in a movie and it is he who steals a majority of the film. His rather straightforward-on-the-page FBI agent is wonderfully drawn by the actor, and the accompanying script. Rather than essentially be someone for the audience to hiss at, we are presented with a character who is intelligent, driven and ultimately perhaps just as horrific as Affleck's criminal. His scenes with Blake Lively are wonderful in drawing out his Machiavellian qualities and his complete disregard for the slum characters Affleck as a filmmaker is fascinated with.

Lively herself is a revelation making you instantly forget that she is actually famous for appearing utterly impeccable and vapid. She is essentially a variation on Amy Ryan's character in Gone Baby Gone. An accident waiting to happen - someone the system forgot about or chose to ignore. While Jeremy Renner seems to be taking the only awards plaudits this season - Lively is far more deserving as she truly shows that she has a career beyond Gossip Girl.

Affleck has indeed improved as a filmmaker also, making his scenes less intimate and claustrophobic, in the action packed moments of the film. The Town features car chases and shootouts that recall The French Connection and Heat, and while the film never reaches those heights it is impressive that the film can sit in their league (admittedly at a very different table). These thrilling sequences prove far more immersive than anything 3D has produced for us to date.

The film never feels flabby or overlong nor does it feel like the film is a product of Hollywood despite the very starry, of-the-moment cast. The world Affleck has shown us feels genuine, and untouched by Hollywood gloss. The same goes for his characters and his script. This feels authentic, despite the heightened narrative of cops and robbers. If the aforementioned 'leap of faith' does wound the film it is a film that feels rare at the moment.

Given it did as well as it did at the box office is a testament to there still being a market at the movies for adults. And that perhaps is Affleck's greatest achievement - despite building his acting career on appealing to the very demographic Hollywood adores; as a director he acknowledges the mature audience that is often, criminally so, overlooked.