The Town
Summary
The ending ofThe Townshows Ben Affleck ’s Doug MacRay escaping to Florida to avoid the FBI , but Affleck ’s alternative closing of The Town dally out very otherwise . The Townis the second feature film directed by Affleck from a screenplay written by Affleck , Peter Craig , and Aaron Stockard , boast performances by Affleck , Jon Hamm , Jeremy Renner , Blake Lively , Rebecca Hall , and more .
The Townis about a small crowd of savings bank robber and panoplied auto thieves from Charlsetown , an area of Boston notorious for produce a large number of banking concern robbers and other criminals . After robbing a boastful bank , Doug MacRay ( Ben Affleck ) develops flavor for an employee of the bank they take hostage , Claire ( Rebecca Hall ) , and want to leave his condemnable lifestyle behind as the FBI , lead by Adam Frawley ( Jon Hamm ) , closes in . Meanwhile , Doug ’s partner in criminal offence and puerility friend James Coughlin ( Jeremy Renner ) is eager to do even more heist , despite the heat from the FBI .
The Town is one of Ben Affleck ’s most far-famed motion picture . Behind the scenes fact detail how the director made the picture show authentic .
Is Charlestown Really Full of Bank Robbers?
It may not deserve its criminal reputation anymore.
The orifice shot ofThe Townfeatures textual matter establishing Charlstown ’s story as a gentility ground for malefactor , pronounce the Boston region has"produced more money box robber and armoured car thieves than anywhere in the world . “and that the patronage was passed down generationally from father to boy . WhenThe Townwas release , there was some question as to the true meaning of Charlestown ’s bank robber population , althoughThe Townis loosely based on Chuck Hogan ’s novelPrince of stealer , which was invigorate by Charlston ’s reputation from the 80s and 90s .
Affleck did extensive enquiry to makeThe Town’sheists and robberies as accurate as possible , although he accommodate in an audience withThe Ringerthat advanced Charleston might not deserve the same reputation:“sort of dissemble that Charlestown was still the way it used to be . But it really was n’t . It was taking a period of time that had passed and pretend it was still a reality . “The Townisn’t based on any particular real - biography felon , reckon Affleck did take inhalation from real criminal offense , and one bank robber has claimed Affleck modeled Doug MacRay off of armed robbery he committed when he was younger .
How Did Doug’s Crew Become FBI Suspects?
Doug and his crew didn’t leave any evidence.
Doug , James , Gloansy , and Dez execute a nearly unflawed bank building rip-off in the opening move vista of the movie , so how did Frawley get leery of them in the first place ? Frawley starts his hunting by busting a low - level criminal in Charlestown who tells him the crew that surcharge the banking company include someone who"gets into the conjugation box,“which Frawley learns is a accomplishment someone would have to work for Vericom protection to learn . Frawley then flummox access to Vericom ’s employee files to equate put down sick twenty-four hour period against coin bank robbery dates , finding a blatant pattern of absence with Desmond Elden , AKA Dez , which leads to known associates Doug , James , and Gloansy .
Frawley quickly key Doug as the ringleader , but the track goes cold there since Frawley does n’t have any literal grounds he can dissemble on , and Doug quickly spots the FBI surveillance and knows not to impeach himself . After the hand truck armed robbery , Frawley state his team to find"something that looks like a print"from the burned - out getaway van so he can vindicate bringing in Doug and his gang for questioning . Of naturally , Frawley is stretching the law since the FBI does n’t really have a usable print , otherwise they ’d have actionable evidence . Instead , they can only bring Doug and his crowd in for questioning , hoping one of them slips up .
Why Did Krista Tell the Cops About The Fenway Park Heist?
She was the crew’s only weak link.
As a small fry , after Doug ’s mom disappear and his dad , Stephen MacRay ( Chris Cooper ) was put in prison house , the Coughlins took him in and he maturate up with James and Krista as practical brother and babe . Growing up he had an on - again - off - again relationship with Krista , during which time she became pregnant with Shyna , although Doug does n’t believe he ’s the father of Krista ’s daughter because Krista was sluttish during that time . Nonetheless , Krista and James think Doug is the forefather and expect him to bide in Charlestown and take charge Krista and Shyna .
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Frawley identifies Krista as the weak linkup and uses her account of sell drugs to pressure her into giving up information . ab initio , she balk , but after Frawley uses Claire and the baseball field necklace Doug give her to make Krista jealous , she becomes more distraught . Krista gets in a fight with Doug about his programme to leave with Claire and then gets in her car with Shyna while under the influence of drug and alcohol and gets contain after crashing . Frawley narrate her he can make the state take Shyna from her because of it . Since Doug project on leave anyway , Shyna tells Frawley and the FBI about the holdup at Fenway Park .
Why Did Claire Warn Doug About the FBI’s Trap?
Did she actually forgive him?
Doug and his pack surcharge Claire ’s bank , violently round her handler , and traumatized her by briefly kidnapping her as indemnity . She had every reason to dislike him and desire him caught , but when Frawley uses her as bait , she signalise Doug to escape . Doug was initially upset , believing she was cooperating with the FBI to lure him in to be capture , but when she told him"it’ll be just like one of my sunny days,“referencing her dislike of cheery days because of memories of her brother ’s death , he knew she still loved him and want to serve him get by .
Claire had already told Doug to leave her alone after Frawley showed her his fool crack , but Doug was brutally honorable with her about his life and his desire to leave Charlstown behind , and she ’d softened back up . Doug was still responsible for one of the most traumatic moment of her life , although it was James who assaulted the depository financial institution handler against Doug ’s wishes , and he ’d demonstrated a good sense of ethics outside his criminal deportment , so she somehow found a room to relieve him kidnapping her and then lying to her about who he was .
The Town’s Ending and True Meaning Explained
Doug finally moves on.
The townsfolk ends with Doug MacRay slip out of Boston on a railroad train with snapshot of him looking out over the water from a shack in Florida as Affleck ’s vocalization reads the distinction he leave Claire along with a mound of money . The note says " maybe if I go I can stop looking , " mention to him looking for his mother after she went neglect . It ’s revealed that the skating rink at the son and girls clubhouse , which had n’t had ice for years because the urban center had n’t taken care of it , now has people playing field hockey again , just like Doug used to , thanks to an anon. donation in the " memory of Doris MacRay , " Doug ’s mother . While Doug could have made the contribution , it ’s imply that ’s how Claire used the money he gave her .
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Doug had learn from Fergie the Florist ( Pete Postlethwaite ) that his momma had been hooked on drugs and died by felo-de-se , think of his daddy ’s involuntariness to talk about it had always been to protect Doug , intend he was keeping two secrets in prison : the identity of his co - conspirators , and the brutal nature of his wife ’s death . Doug ’s letter terminate with a quote his pappa used after he talk about be active on from the nuisance of Doug ’s mom,“I have it off I ’ll see you again , this side or the other . “Doug also left a tangerine for Claire , referring to their conversation where he said he wanted to go to Tangerine , Florida , where his nanna used to have a eating house .
Doug was a intersection of Charlestown , so for him , pull up stakes his life of law-breaking meant leaving home for the first fourth dimension and eventually leave his mom and his dad behind . Knowing the truth about his mama , that she had n’t actually abandoned him , and coming to terms with his kinship with his daddy , Doug is able-bodied to leave all that behind and start over . The Towndoesn’t reveal if Claire eventually goes to Tangerine to get hold him or not , but the tip of Doug ’s message is that he ’ll bear her with him wherever he run because of the influence she had on his life .
The Town’s Alternate Ending Explained
Doug’s past life catches up with him.
WhileThe Town ’s theatrical cutting had an open - ended and hopeful close , Ben Affleck also released an extended cut of the movie with around 25 minutes of additional footage , including additional dialog in some view in addition to alone new scenes thrive or tally to the motion picture ’s subplots . One version of the elongated cut has the same ending as the theatrical cut , but there ’s another version of the extended deletion that ’s nearly very other than the fact that it has an much glum alternate ending where Doug is killed by other Charlstown criminals he ’d flap up earlier before he can get to the train .
The Town ’s alternate ending where Doug decease is closer to Chuck Hogan ’s novelPrince of Thieves , whichThe Townis based on .
While the theatrical ending high spot Doug moving on from his living of crime , writing"you still have to pay the monetary value for the thing you ’ve done"in his letter of the alphabet to Claire , the alternating ending shows exactly the opposite . alternatively of riding off into the sundown , Doug suffers the effect of his biography of criminal offense right before he at long last chuck up the sponge , ironically punctuate by the fact that it ’s not the FBI that catches him in the remainder , but a low - storey criminal Doug beat up for unrelated understanding in the first place in the picture .
