From NetFlix:

Career bank robber Doug (Ben Affleck) and his volatile partner, Jim (Jeremy Renner), hit a roadblock when Doug falls for bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall), whom he kidnapped during their last heist. Worse, an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) is now trailing the thieves around their Charlestown, Mass., territory. Affleck directs and co-writes this smart, intricate actioner that co-stars Blake Lively as Krista, Jim’s sister and Doug’s troubled former flame.

No doubt about it, Ben Affleck shows how multi-talented he is in this adaptation from Chuck Hogan’s novel “Prince of Thieves”!

Yes, there are the mandatory car chases, sex scenes, shoot outs at the OK Coral, etc. But I was always rooting for Affleck’s character Doug, hoping he could turn his life around. However, cooperative crime is a trap, once a member always a member. Somehow his relation with Claire adds something distinct about the film (but then there is always “On the Waterfront”).

Jan Hamm is wonderfully forceful as the FBI lead agent. It’s nice to see him as something other than one of the “Mad Men”.

One of my favorite villains, he plays “The Florist”, is the Cheshire, England born-and-raised Pete Postlethwaite (I wonder how you pronounce that name). His final end in this film is very satisfying.

Please read the Wikipedia article which tries hard to dispel the myth that Charlestown remains a breeding ground for criminals. Too bad the article didn’t explain how they filmed all those destructive car chases.

My one real objection is that at the end of the film (this is not a spoiler) Doug has arranged too many clever details. And just when, amidst the shooting, did he have time for those arrangements?