Reflections on the movie "The Town"

My wife and I saw "The Town" starring and directed by Ben Affleck a few days ago.

I typically write a blog about the movie right after I see it but I wanted to wait a few days to let this one sink in.

Here's the thing. The movie is brilliantly acted. I am not a fan of Ben Affleck but I thought his performance was wonderful. Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker) was amazing. And the rest of the cast wasn't too shabby. All around great performances. I would not be surprised one bit if this film garnered several oscars. The performances were that good.

Having said that, here's my issue with the movie. I don't like how movies like "The Town" have me rooting for the bad guy while rooting against the good guys.

I know. I get that life is not always black and white, that good people aren't always good and bad people aren't always bad. I get that there is good and bad in all people. Me included. We all carry skeletons.

But, I wonder what kind of societal impact movies like "The Town" have when it so blatantly has as its heros the criminals. With movies like "Unforgiven", we have seen a steady stream of movies that have us rooting against the people who are trying to protect our lives and establish law and order and it has us rooting for the criminals.

That's what makes me nervous about movies like "The Town".

Like I said, I thought the movie was well made and brilliantly acted. But I still find myself uncomfortable because I want to live in a world where criminals get locked up for doing criminal activities and where we honor those who put their lives on the line day in and day out to protect law and order.