Ben Affleck directs and stars in The Town, playing Doug MacRay, the head of a crew of thieves that robs banks — and who forms a relationship with 
The Town is based on the novel Prince of Thieves, written by Chuck Hogan. Hailing from Massachusetts, Hogan situated the crime drama in the Charlestown area for a reason: the Boston neighborhood has produced more bank and armored car robbers than any other single square mile in the world. The seeds of that distinction were more than likely planted when Charlestown was the site of a maximum security prison, leading to a self-perpetuating criminal enclave. Affleck offers, “It served as a kind of revolving door. People would go to prison and their families would move there, and, as they got out and then went back in, a community developed around it. It was hypothesized in the book — and we included it in the film — that robbing banks became a trade that was passed down from fathers to sons.”
Jeremy Renner, who plays the role of Doug’s accomplice and best friend, Jem, adds, “In that very small, tight-knit community, they developed a strict code of silence. Everybody knew everything, but nobody talked, which made it easier to be successful in that line of work.”
“The Town” is now showing on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
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© 2010 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.