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I’ve made it a point not to understand people who don’t like Ben Affleck.  The guy is charming and has never been hesitant to poke fun at himself (“Word, bitch!  Phantoms like a motherfucker!” he proudly proclaims in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).  But he did a good job of silencing the haters with 2007 directorial debut Gone Baby Gone.  Of course, then came the chorus, “He should just stay behind the camera!”  Now with his new film The Town, he’s directing and starring and he does a great job at both.  While his new effort isn’t quite the emotional powerhouse he delivered with Gone Baby Gone, The Town is a thrilling ride that’s worth taking.

Some towns produce great athletes, some towns produce great scientists, and Charlestown, Massachusettes produces great bank robbers.  The city has the highest number of bank robberies per capita.  The Town centers on one crew of bank robbers led by Doug MacRay (Affleck).  After one heist, the crew decides to take a hostage (Rebecca Hall) just in case they’re tracked down by the fuzz during their getaway.  After making their escape and releasing the hostage without any problems, they discover that she lives in Charlestown and can possibly indentify them. Doug decides to get close to her to make sure she doesn’t talk and the two begin to develop a romantic relationship (although it remains unknown to her that he was one of her captors).  That conceit strains credulity but the chemistry between Affleck and Hall makes it work.  Of course, external forces including MacRay’s hot-headed best friend (Jeremy Renner) and a relentless FBI agent (Jon Hamm) threaten to not only put a halt to this bizarre love story, but to land Doug in jail for the rest of his life.

The Town is permeated with brutal fatalism.  We see these men whose fathers taught them the trade of bank robbery, which is exciting to watch but deadly to practice.  Affleck’s direction is spot-on as he creates breathlessly exciting heist scenes, but has the restraint to let the actors carry the rest of the film.  The script does rely a bit too heavily on characters stating exactly what they want or what another character wants, but the cast turns in strong work and holds our attention through the matter-of-fact dialogue.

However, the film is almost so tight that it could use a little time to breathe and give little moments to supporting characters.  Jon Hamm’s FBI agent is never given time to be anything more than just a raging ass-hole and we don’t know why he hates bank robbers with the fury most people reserve for murderers and rapists.  Blake Lively plays a spurned love interest of Doug’s, but the character is absent from the movie until the third act.  While we always know where every character is coming from, the script and the pacing has some trouble naturally getting there.

But this is a minor complaint when stacked up against Affleck’s strong lead performance and serious directing chops.  Gone Baby Gone is the stronger overall film, but the three action scenes of The Town are filled with so much excitement, drama, and comedy that they made me wonder what Affleck could do with a straight-up action film rather than contained action scenes in an intimate crime drama.  With The Town, Affleck has established himself as directing talent to be reckoned with and serves up a reminder that his acting skills shouldn’t be disregarded.  But if you still want to hold on to your bizarre Affleck-hate, you’re only hurting yourself if you pass on this solid drama.

Rating: B

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This movie sucked dick.

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Easy A is easily one of the funniest comedies of the year.   It’s witty, clever, silly, and is anchored by a breakthrough performance by star Emma Stone.  Comedies set in high schools are usually a grind, but Easy A is the best one since 2004’s Mean Girls. The film even has some smart commentary on the nature of reputation in the digital age and how easier access to information hasn’t made it any easier to get to the truth, especially when a lie can be so much juicier.  And in between its smart jokes and thoughtful subtext, Easy A also has a big heart.  That’s essential when your protagonist is cashing in on pretending to be a skank.

If you can believe that a young woman as lovely as Emma Stone would go unnoticed by boys, then the central premise of her character Olive will work for you.  Olive Penderghast is a whip-smart girl who is completely anonymous at her school until she tells a white lie about losing her virginity to a fictional community college student.  This lie becomes even more inflated after a bullied gay student asks her to fake having sex with him so that the other students will think he’s straight and stop making his life a living hell.  Even if Stone weren’t so damn lovable, the script is always does a good job of clearly showing that the clearly-not-stupid Olive is doing a somewhat-stupid thing for the right reasons.

The film effortlessly weaves in pop culture, technology, and yet never loses its beat on the smart joke.  Too often, a film’s attempt to be hip is so transparent that the result is sad and awkward. Easy A doesn’t have that problem and its references always feel natural and organic to the story and setting.

But without the right actress cast as Olive, then the script and Will Gluck’s skilled direction would be stymied.  Thankfully, Emma Stone not only carries Easy A, but does such an outstanding job that I’ll be shocked if she’s not A-list after this movie.  Her comic timing and facial expressions are sublime and she shows the comedic talents of someone well beyond her years.  She makes Olive’s intelligence charming instead of abrasive and isn’t afraid to embrace the insecurities of her character.  Let us hope that this is the first of many leading roles for this talented young actress.

Stone could carry this movie on her own, but she’s backed up by a wonderful supporting cast, most notably Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson who play Olive’s parents.  They’re the parents we all wish we could have, not just cool and understanding, but damn funny.  Tucci and Clarkson’s interplay with each other and with Stone is so natural that I would love to see a spinoff that just focused on Mr. and Mrs. Penderghast.

The film takes its title from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.  Olive relates to protagonist Hester Prynne and her public condemnation for adultery.  As an act of rebellion, Olive sews the letter “A” risque pieces of clothing and wears it proudly.  When her English teacher asks why she’s wearing the letter, Olive smirks and says, “Oh, it’s for awesome.”  If all high school comedies were like Easy A, the world would be a better place, or at least a funnier one.  The script is outstanding, Gluck’s direction had me heading out to see his previous film Fired Up!, and the film is worth seeing for Stone’s performance alone even though the whole cast is terrific.  “Awesome,” indeed.

Rating: A-

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As the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster, a young Wall Street trader partners with disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko on a two-tiered mission: To alert the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was responsible for the death of the young trader’s mentor.

Jacob Moore (Shia LaBeouf) is a player on Wall Street in 2007.  The film never makes it clear if he’s an analyst or a broker or a trader or a banker or what but he’s a man out for revenge (which I suppose you could/should put on business cards).  His mentor and boss (Frank Langella) commits suicide when the financial company belonging to Bretton James (Josh Brolin) somehow tanks the stock of Jacob’s company.  Jacob is aiming to bring down James’ company…and then ends up working for James because James has the power to fund Jacob’s pet project concerning fusion power.  Shoehorned into this is Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), out of prison and on a book tour.  Gekko is also estranged from his daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan) who just so happens to be engaged to Jacob.  Jacob wants the two to reconcile, but he also desperately wants a father figure out of Gekko.

Part of what makes the financial industry so frustrating is how complicated it is.  The first Wall Street was loaded down in jargon, but it was simply window-dressing for a streamlined plot about a naive young man who makes a deal with the devil only to discover that the devil doesn’t care about who he stabs in the back.  The devil may be back for Money Never Sleeps, but Stone has no idea what to do with him.  One of the best moments in Wall Street is Gekko’s famous “Greed is good,” speech (even though that’s not the exact quote).  In the sequel, Gekko’s big speech is a clumsy montage of various kernels of wisdom.  It doesn’t even really feel like we’re meeting Gekko until the third act.  For most of the movie he’s simply Gordon Sad-Old-Man-Looking-for-Redemption.

Because of this poor lack of characterization on Gekko, Douglas doesn’t get a chance to shine until the end of the movie (which is then undermined by a cheap, unearned denouement).  Thankfully, the rest of the cast does fantastic work.  LaBeouf and Mulligan have wonderful chemistry, and Brolin is sinister but not in an overt, scenery-chewing way.  The fact that their characters are poorly defined on paper is an even larger testament to the confidence of the performances.

If only Stone had the same confidence in his picture.  However, his direction feels gimmicky, with silly editing tricks and little need to use them.  For example, a scene where Stone super-imposes the head of Jacob’s co-worker over Winnie’s body during a phone call (because Jacob is in love with his job, get it!) is distracting rather than thoughtful.  Into this mixture of hazily-defined relationships and baffling financial intrigue, the financial collapse becomes a plot point and while its integration is clever, it doesn’t feel meaningful.  To Stone’s credit, the use of the historical event doesn’t feel parasitic, but it does feel like a huge missed opportunity.

Once again, Oliver Stone is attempting to step into the conversation of current events but has nothing to say.  The return of Gordon Gekko may be the selling point, but its worth is over-inflated.  Stone’s cast serves him well, but ultimately there’s only so much they can do when the script is so ham-handed that it tries to do things like craft a metaphor relating financial bubbles to human evolution.  Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps ends up being as confusing and irritating as the financial crisis that inspired it.

Rating: C -

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The highly skilled Federale Machete is hired by some unsavory types to assassinate a senator. But just as he’s about to take the shot, he notices someone aiming at him and realizes he’s been set up. He barely survives the sniper’s bullet, and is soon out for revenge on his former employers, with the reluctant assistance of his old friend Cheech Marin, who has become a priest and taken a vow of nonviolence. If you hire him to take out the bad guys, make sure the bad guys aren’t you! Written by rmlohner

Three years ago in Mexico, determined Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) is betrayed and set-up by his boss, resulting in his wife and child being murdered by drug kingpin Torrez (Steven Seagal). Now, in Texas, Machete resurfaces when hired to assassinate Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro), an extreme advocate against illegal immigration. Once again betrayed and set-up, Machete plots his revenge against the men who’ve wronged him with the help of resistance fighter Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), ICE Agent Sartana (Jessica Alba), and the shotgun-toting Padre (Cheech Marin).