Sons of Anarchy

Ben Affleck is a big-time director now.

The actor, who was once known as the male participant in the tabloid firestorm that became Bennifer, is back behind the camera with The Town, his second helming effort.

He’s also more eager than ever to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, not just a matinee idol with a penchant for mindless blockbusters (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and romancing fellow A-Listers (Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, and his now-wife Jennifer Garner).

He’s an auteur now, so you better get with the program and wrap your head around that idea.

It’s a good thing that Affleck makes it so darn easy.

His directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone was met with lavish praise three years ago, and his acting was elevated to a new level after Hollywoodland the year before that. It’s almost like, post-Bennifer, the man decided to re-invent himself, which, I think I read recently, was a conscious decision on his part.

So kudos to him, and kudos to The Town, a star-studded Boston-set bank-robbers thriller that is not just all action, but also lots of heart.

Affleck, who also contributed to the script, plays Doug MacRay, a Charlestown career criminal and leader of a merry band of ace bank robbers.

The guy may be a bad boy, but he still lives and steals by a code: He and his fellow crooks get in quick and get out clean; they don’t hurt nobody; they play it smart. He’s also on personal path now that he has sobered up, and is still trying to be a sort of boyfriend to his druggy main girl (Blake Lively), as well as a father figure to her kid. But bank robbers are like leopards...they don’t just change their spots because they say so – he can’t just quit the biz and leave it all behind.

Doesn’t mean Doug won’t try, though.

After the gang’s latest job, they briefly take a hostage, the bank manager played by Vicky Cristina Barcelona’s Rebecca Hall, whom he soon starts befriending then romancing in order to keep tabs on her and make sure she’s not some loose end that needs taking of after they let her go unharmed but threatened.

That budding relationship will be the undoing of the gang, which includes the hothead played with aplomb by The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner, as it is now more vulnerable to the FBI investigation that’s right on their tail and led by Jon Hamm (AMC’s Mad Men).

The Town, with its accomplished mix of action and unexpected humor, is quite the feather on Affleck’s cap – one that should and will bring him lots of pride.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: Warner Bros.