The Town

Rebecca Hall and Ben Affleck in <em>The Town</em>
The Boston neighborhood of Charlestown, a series of pre-title cards inform us, is a fundamentally miserable but also beloved place, a rough-and-tumble environment where bank robbery has become a cottage industry. The Town is the story of bank robbers, and of the dilemma experienced by the people — Townies, they’re called, affectionately and not-so — who dwell in a place they love, and from which they’re desperate to escape.

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Gun Crazy

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There comes a point where the act of criticism breaks down, and I’d be

hard-pressed to tell you exactly why I think Peggy Cummins is just

awesome as Annie Laurie Starr in Gun Crazy.

She’s a little awkward — in every scene, if you’re listening

carefully, you can hear her trying to squelch her native British

accent. But it’s not an impediment to her performance, which is as raw

and sensuous as they come. Through much of the movie, Cummins redefines

the relationship between sex and violence, eyes afire, mouth agape,

bright gobbets of pure sex dripping from her open lips.

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