Claire represents the real problem at the center of the proceedings. Youve got nothing to do, its like, Lets go try out an awesome restaurant. I felt bad that Ben didnt get to have that experience. Besides being the lovable and erudite wrinkle in the scheme, she is not a townie, someone who was raised in the neighborhood. I remember one day going to set because he and Ben were doing that great scene where it ends up with them having a fight. But they liked it and they wanted to meet with me, and I was like, of course. I was willing to meet with anyone who was interested in hiring me as a director. I was playing a character that was from Boston and I worked really hard on the accent and went in and did my first rounds and the director said, That was great. In addition to including the statistic about Charlestowns armed-robbery predilection, the preface of Prince of Thieves features a quote in The Globe by an anonymous Townie. One of those characters you love to hate and find sort of intoxicating and moving; all of those things at the same time. And there were probably a couple of guys there who were still robbing banks.. Hamm: I got to meet Pete Postlewaite, rest in peace, at the hotel bar. Boston Police report arresting Thomas Hickey, 49, of Charlestown, for a Nov. 30 bank robbery on Austin Street in which he allegedly pushed an elderly man who was in line before him out of the way at a teller window.. Police report arresting Everybody wanted to cut it. How are you gonna figure this out because you want to drive an armored car out of one of our gates? But as I was signing books afterwards, I see this guy coming up. The FBI says the vestibule was actually a "man-trap," designed to capture people like Hamilton. He was with his mother. WebThe crew consisted of Doug MacRay, Jem Coughlin, Desmond Elden, and Albert MacGloan, four veteran Charlestown bank and armored car robbers. Alexander Witt (second-unit director): We talked and we said, Lets do it as classic as possible.. In 2010, after his gang was eliminated, he fled to Tallahassee, I said, Is there any way in hell that you can imagine that someone would ever rob a bank if theyre from Charlestown dressed as a nun? And the FBI agent I was meeting with turned to me and said, You know what, thats not a bad idea at all. And thats where that idea started. Cooper: He got me about five [recorded] voices and one in particularthis one of somebody who had done timewas just so full of character and I just loved it, and so thats what I glommed onto. Rebecca Halls character asking Douggie why the kids with whom she volunteerscall her a tunie? Date Updated: Jan 18, 2023. The crew at the center of The Town resembles a gang of five masked robbers who pulled holdups from 1990 to 1995. This week marks the 10-year anniversary of The Town, Ben Afflecks Oscar-nominated crime thriller about a group of bank robbers in Charlestown who target Fenway Park for one final score. Tuesday October 30, 2012. But mostly a Boston accent depends on your socioeconomic status, by and large. And thats just sort of the natural progression. And we got in the car and kept going. I totally put that directly in the movie. Culture Editor Tony Sokol is a writer, playwright and musician. Ben Affleck grew up in Cambridge, only a few miles away from Charlestown, but to him the distance between the two places felt vast. Burke: I was at a point where I was still looking for what I was gonna do with my life. Affleck: The Yawkey Red Sox, Im sure, wouldve been impossible. Affleck unequivocally contributed to that proliferation. You know, the Kennedys kind of had their own weird accent. He gets punished. I just still really thought that way. Burke: Ive heard people say, Oh, we dont sound like that! And Im like, I dont think you guys really listen to yourselves. So I leave the movie theater and Im really kind of numb, trying to figure it out. Affleck never had so much fun, One blue-collar Boston neighbourhood has produced more bank robbers and armoured-carthieves than anywhere in the world: Charlestown.. I keep waiting for someone of color, anyone whos not like me, this sort of Irish American crime writer, to figure it out and write another great Boston crime movie that doesnt look like all the ones weve seen. She prepped for that for God knows how long. Ill use them because Im from Boston to get into Fenway. The Town took $23.8 million (18.4 million) at the box office on its opening weekend, from a budget of just $37 million (28 million). Slaine: Ive seen other cuts of the ending, like the one they put out, the extended version. And that looks like a detail youd come up with writing a script. And a lot of older actors, [when theyre] told, Go here, do this, a lot of these guys are like, Fuck off. Dont run away from it. We love that movie, dont be afraid of doing things that they did that worked. Stockard: Ben and I went and spent a day with this FBI task force. The Town (2010 Jon Hamm and Affleck centers on the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown. Carter: There was a guy, Joe Lawler, who was helping us. The car contained stolen money an He had really bad scars. Hed done his time. Three friends and acquaintances who had lied on the stand before testified against the five, along with four convicted bank robbers from Charlestown. It is also quirkily structured, vaguely biographical and personal. Welliver: On the page it was one thing, and he beat the page because rather than it being a scene that was about anger and aggression, Renner turned that scene into a scene about heartbreak and devastation. By contrast, Afflecks Doug MacRay heads a four-man gang. Rob Dobi Chuck Hogans novel Prince of Thieves opens with a toast: Raise a Glass. The funny thing isand I found this out laterhe met John Cena for that role. Jem would rather battle it out with the law than go back to prison. A Boston bank robber looks for a way out of his criminal lifestyle after beginning a passionate romance with the woman that his gang briefly took hostage. It was actually in the book. The movies center is Charlestown, right across the bridge from the rest of Boston, a legend in illicit locales. I was only comforted by the thought that no one with a Boston accent has ever actually read the Boston Phoenix. Oceans Eleven set the cinematic standard for a heist team. (His co-star John Hamm once said thatwalking around Boston with Affleck was like walking around with the mayor.) Police Arrest Charlestown Man Following Bank Robbery - Charlestown, MA - Officers responded to the Santander Bank at 437 Rutherford Avenue early Sunday morning. This is their story. Its fucking brilliant. And so, constantly, Ben and I are trying to make it as real as possible. Doug MacRay ( Ben Affleck) is not cut from the same cloth as his fellow thieves. Affleck: Rebecca worked just as hard on the accent. This was a garage that And on Afflecks instructions, Blake Lively, a California girl, spent three months hanging around with locals in bars and apartments to prepare for her role. Its not The Godfather of caper films, but it is a heist movie must-see. Or a child abduction? Craig: I was a struggling crime writer. What is the penalty for bank robbery in mass? The Town unfolds in the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown, which the prologue claims has produced more bank robbers and armored car thieves than The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. Hogan: I was just checking out the internet one day in my office and I saw a Variety headline: Affleck moves to The Town. I called my wife over and said, I think theyre making a movie of the book. And that was it. Thousands. And for better or worse, it was also a hit thatin addition to tax incentiveshelped temporarily cement Massachusetts as Hollywood East. If the Herald said that, I mightve taken it more personally. This isnt because those criminals made the sloppiest getaways. When its not, its predictable and obvious and trite. Just finding a place to park the trucks. Craig: I was a crime writer already. The one thing I miss about Boston is you saw a fistfight every day. But the machines they use to clean the streets are very loud and we were cleaning the streets at like 7 in the morning and out of this apartment building comes Jonathan Papelbon. WebThe Town. The former bank robber-turned-aspiring-movie producer who tried to claim it is back to prison. 2 hours ago. I showed up, I did the reading. This is the script I want. And I said, Adrian, this is gonna be a three-and-a-half-hour movie. Hes like, Well, if Scorsese can make a three-and-a-half-hour movie, I want to.. Shea, 35, Stephen Burke, 42, and Michael OHalloran, 40, were convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, robbery and other offenses Dec. 22 for a series of holdups in New England and Florida. It later served as inspiration for the Massachusetts natives third book. [Adrian Lyne did not respond to a request to be interviewed for this article.]. Craig: I hadnt really processed the new ending. Carter: Hes 6-foot-3. The productions biggest scoop, location-wise, was being granted permission to shoot the Fenway Park heist scene in the real Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Robert H. Brady, 42, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. This shooting game is the newest brilliant sneaking FPS game. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. I kind of got to tiptoe around and watch them shooting from afar without them knowing I was there. Hamm: We had this 15-day stretch where we had to shoot at Fenway. And then she recorded her voice, read some of the pages, so that we shared that with Blake Lively, so she could try to get the accent down. Its ironic that by the time the film came out, the process was largely complete. They were shooting a scene. In 1995, The Boston Globe reported that the neighborhood was a community to which more armored car robbers are traced than any other in the country, according to FBI statistics. Hogan recalls reading that and filing it away. Affleck: Im like, Why the fuck do you think people go to hockey games? Swearing and fighting. Cooper: I wanted to spend some time in Walpole [at MCICedar Junction] and just observe. Affleck: Typically people you saw who did it badly would err on the side of doing the Kennedys. Ten years ago this week, Ben Affleck and his crew put on nun masks, robbed Fenway Park, and made the ultimate Boston movie. Thats how you drive a f----n caaar, declares the getaway driver, Gloansy (played by rapper Slaine). Affleck: I was able to get access to the FBI and the division that chased and caught most of these armored car robbers, particularly in Charlestown. Two armored car guards were shot to death in New Hampshire in 1994 during one of the robberies. When he took over the project Fatal Attractions Adrian Lyne was originally down to direct local boy Affleck decided he wanted to make this as much of a Boston filmas he possibly could. Its more general American but with a kind of East Coast, sort of slightly privileged vibe. In the film, the crew get away, largely thanks to the kind of driving that puts Daniel Craig to shame. We did all that kind of stuff. It at least had that upswing. I love Adrian. And in an exciting way. In one of his final roles, Academy Awardnominated English actor Pete Postlethwaite plays Fergus Fergie Colm, a menacing mob boss/florist who gives Doug orders while chomping gum and stripping roses. We had bank robbers, we had career criminals, people that couldnt show up certain days because theyd be violating their parole. But he pointed out the quote. The cunning group is robbing city banks to steal money and making the getaway with diamond Heist. WebIn a stroll of Charlestown on a sunny day, its hard to believe this tiny Boston neighborhood could be the bank robbery capital of America the Warner Bros. hype about Ben I said, Im so sorry to bother you Mr. Postlethwaite, but Im on the movie, sorry we dont have any scenes together, but Im so excited to be in a movie with you. I gushed for a while, and he just smiled as broad as he could, and hes like, Come on, come on, sit down, have a drink. I was like, Well, its 11 in the morning.. I said, Really, Ive got to drive all the way to fucking Boston to get a meeting with you? He looked at me and went, Youre crazy. I said, No, Im not. He said, So, you really want to be in this film? I went, Yeah. And then he went, Dino? I went, Yeah. He went, OK. The Town may have taken a small place with a complicated history and declared it a cesspool of violent criminals but they arent dumb ones. Yes Charestown, MA is known for Bank robbers. WebThe Town. Eventually, homogenization came for those tales, too. I was still in the 70s mindset of, Oh thats how you end one of these movies. The cunning group is robbing city banks to steal money and making the getaway with diamond Heist. FINDLAY, Ohio (WTVG) - Authorities arrested a man in Findlay Monday on bank robbery charges. Whats better than that? Hamm: We could all go, hang out at the bar; me and Rebecca, and Renner, and Titus, that whole crowd. They were about to buy it but they wanted to cut it, too. 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