The Town - City Without Mercy (Extended Cut) - Blu-ray

Film: After delivering a more than convincing debut as a feature film director with the superb thriller "Gone, Baby, Gone", Ben Affleck now follows it up with "The Town - Stadt ohne Gnade". This time, however, he does not limit himself to his work behind the camera, but also appears as the lead actor - and thus takes the opportunity to prove even the harshest critics finally once again that he can really act.

In the film adaptation of the novel "Endspiel" by Chuck Hogan, Affleck plays Doug MacRay, who pursues a very special profession: MacRay is a bank robber. Not uncommon in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood, there is no other comparable place of its size from which more bank robberies are planned and carried out in a year. But Doug is no simple bank robber. He's a genius, planning every little step of his meticulously planned robberies with his accomplice with a precision that borders on genius. And that's why the FBI hasn't caught him yet - much to the chagrin of Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm), who is determined to put a stop to Doug and his men at any cost. When Doug falls in love with his hostage Claire (Rebecca Hall) after his last heist, he starts to make mistakes. And soon he's faced with a tough decision: should he start a new life beyond crime with Claire, which would amount to a betrayal of his accomplices, his "family". Or should he still pull off one last, dangerous coup?

"The Town - Stadt ohne Gnade" is a decent gangster thriller that, while not quite in the same league as films like "Heat" or "Copland", is still more than convincing in many aspects. As with "Gone Baby Gone", Affleck again manages to create a fairly authentic-looking picture of the area in which the story is set. In doing so, the story invokes the fact that so many bank robbers come from the rather small Charlestown neighborhood, but he still doesn't make an overly gritty problem neighborhood out of the Boston neighborhood in his film, but finds a lot of natural beauty even in the neighborhood that definitely has a not-so-good reputation, which is reflected in the very good camerawork.

An aspect that also works very well are the action sequences, which don't dominate the film, but are nevertheless staged in such a rousing way that they stay in the viewer's mind even longer. Whether it's the bank robbery at the beginning of the film or a spectacular chase through Boston up to the furious finale, Affleck always manages to tighten the tension screw. In between, he allows himself many quieter moments in which he lets the characters develop and establish their relationships with each other. Especially the friendship between Doug and the hot-headed Jem, played magnificently by Jeremy Renner ("Deadly Commando"), but also the romance between the bank robber and his hostage, which is doomed from the beginning, give the film a depth that raises it above the average.

The actors are also above average, starting with Ben Affleck himself, who delivers one of - if not THE - most convincing performances of his career in front of the camera here. But also Jon Hamm, main actor of the great series "Mad Men", gives the desperate, determined to do anything investigator with the perfect mix of dry humor and cold calculation. The scene in which Doug is interrogated by Agent Frawley is one of the acting highlights of the film.

"The Town - City Without Mercy" does not reinvent the genre, of course, and here and there quite obviously uses the great role models of the subject. However, the film does this so convincingly, so exciting and thrilling, that these weak points hardly carry any negative weight. And that's exactly why: for lovers of sophisticated gangster cinema absolutely recommendable!

The Extended Cut: The longer film version, which is unfortunately only available in the original English sound with optional German subtitles, offers the viewer almost 30 minutes more material. While in some scenes only short dialogue extensions were made, there are other sequences that have been inserted completely new into the plot. These are primarily scenes that deepen the characters, with the relationship between Doug and Claire in particular being expanded. Although some of the new scenes, as Ben Affleck reveals in the audio commentary, were removed from the theatrical version for good reason, but overall the long version just seems more complete and rounded and is therefore absolutely recommended.

Picture + Sound: Picture and sound are on a good level, but there would have been improvements in almost all areas in any case. The picture is clean overall, but there are visible weaknesses in terms of sharpness of detail and contrast. The audio shows pleasantly dynamic, especially in the action sequences, though the German Dolby Digital 5.1 track falls well short of the English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 mix.

Extras: In addition to the long version, the Blu-ray also offers an audio commentary by Ben Affleck on both versions of the film. However, this is the same commentary in each case, with the long version merely expanded to include comments on why the respective sequences are missing from the theatrical version. Affleck is very matter-of-fact, yet it is clear that he was very passionate about this project. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles available for the commentary, so interested viewers should definitely have the necessary English language skills.

In addition to the audio commentary, the disc offers 6 focus points that can either be integrated into the film, or viewed individually. There's a total of 30 minutes of information about the filming location, the real-life background, the staging, and Affleck's work as director and lead actor. A few interesting information is offered to the viewer, but overall the short documentaries remain relatively superficial.

Conclusion: "The Town - City Without Mercy" is a very good thriller-drama, which once again proves that the talent of Ben Affleck is still underestimated by many. The Blu-Ray offers besides the already very good theatrical version also a slightly better extended cut - but only in the original English version. Add to that some extras and a decent technical realization - and you have a definite buy recommendation!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp