Summary

• Former bank robber Cain Vincent Dyer praises Ben Affleck's heist movie "The Town," calling it "absolutely on point" when it comes to realistic robbery details.
• Dyer commends the film for accurately depicting bank robber tricks, such as using a police scanner and switching cars after the robbery.
• "The Town" is considered a peak of Affleck's directorial career, with strong performances, capturing the essence of Boston, and accurate portrayal of tense heist scenes.

A real life bank robber gives high marks for realism to Ben Affleck’s heist movie The Town. Released in 2010, The Town starred Affleck as a member of a crew of bank robbers who becomes romantically involved with a victim of one of his past robberies while in the middle of planning a daring heist of Boston's Fenway Park. Boasting an impressive ing cast including Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and Chris Cooper, The Town was a hit with critics, as reflected in its 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Affleck's The Town does indeed boast strong performances from its great cast, but it also boasts heist scenes that feel particularly realistic and thrilling, and it turns out the movie’s robbery scenes are quite realistic, at least according to one expert. In a video for Insider, former bank robber Cain Vincent Dyer breaks down The Town, and calls the film “absolutely on point” when it comes to the details of robbery. Dyer praises the movie for depicting real life bank robber tricks, like using a police scanner and switching cars after the heist. Check out what Dyer had to say in the space below (around :31 of the clip):

It is absolutely on point. Truck robberies are quite common. I think there was just one in Los Angeles a week ago. They said they had taken, like, $30,000. I think after review it came down to $15,000. That's actually considerably small for hitting an armored car. The reason for that: That's where the banks get the money from. With that said, you're increasing your level of danger a hundredfold. You know, those security guards from armored car trucks are trained to shoot back and defend that money. It's a lot different than, the thinking of a bank can typically be to let you have it and just to get you out of there.

I actually used police scanners in a lot of my bank heists. I would tap into the police activity within an area. Knowing when they're coming, knowing how much time you have left inside. So, yes, it's absolutely something that a gang of that caliber would have.

We also see that they switch cars after the robbery, which is very, very, very common. All the cars that they're using are stolen, more than likely, right? Instead of stealing a car, what I would do is I would find that make and model of the car that I had, and I would steal the license plate off an identical car. There are a lot of guys in crew that are out there that are like that. You have to give The Town the 10.

The Town Is The Peak Of Affleck’s Directorial Career

Having risen to fame as the star of films like Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, The Sum of All Fears and Daredevil, Affleck made his directorial debut with 2007’s Gone Baby Gone. A critical success, the thriller launched Affleck on a directing run that included 2010’s The Town, followed by the true-life drama Argo, which won an Oscar for Best Picture. Affleck unfortunately suffered a setback with his next film Live By Night, a critical and commercial flop, and did not direct again until 2023’s Air, which got him back in critics’ good graces, currently sitting at 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Though Argo was the film that received Oscar gold, The Town is better-regarded today, and is the true peak of Affleck’s directorial career so far. Not only is The Town a tight thriller filled with strong performances, it captures the flavor of Boston better than most films set in the city. Now thanks to the input of robbery expert Dyer, it’s confirmed that the tense heist scenes in The Town are accurate to the way real thieves operate.

Source: Insider