leading man is steadily delivering his best work behind the camera. He already has an Oscar on the mantelpiece as co-writer of Good Will Hunting and his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone was a gritty adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel that garnered numerous critical plaudits.

For his second feature in the director’s chair, Affleck remains on the streets of Boston for a taut heist thriller based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. The Town is a well-crafted and vivid portrait of a close-knit community of men with a strict code of silence that condemns those who speak out of turn to an early grave. What the film may lack in originality it makes up for in exhilarating action sequences and strong performances, with Affleck noticeably giving himself the least showy role and allowing his co-stars to chew the scenery.

The film is set in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the one-square-mile neighbourhood that produces more armoured car and bank robbers than anywhere else in the US. With that in mind, it beggars belief that the cops aren’t better prepared to neutralise the threat of the gun-toting thieves who run amok here but the film wouldn’t run much past 30 minutes without myriad suspensions of disbelief.

Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is doomed to repeat the mistakes of his father Stephen (Chris Cooper), who is serving time in a maximum security prison, as mastermind of a four-strong team of bank robbers comprising trigger-happy best friend Jem (Jeremy Renner), Gloansy (Slaine) and Desmond (Owen Burke).

On their final job, Jem takes hostage bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall), releasing her once they are safely away from pursuing cops. Fearing that the terrified woman may identify them, Doug engineers a meeting in a laundrette and slowly develops an attraction to Claire, who has no idea that she is falling in love with the man who pointed a gun at her head hours earlier.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Frawley (Jon Hamm) treads on the toes of Boston Police Detective Dino Ciampa (Titus Welliver) to cach the thieves and bring down money man Fergie Colm (Pete Postlethwaite).

The Town cranks up the tension as Doug struggles to keep his affair with Claire secret from Jem and the posse. Once the apparent betrayal comes to light, it ignites a powder keg of emotions that rocks the neighbourhood to its foundations.

Affleck’s (anti) hero is bland next to scene-stealers Renner and Postlethwaite but in his capacity as director, he makes light work of the two-hour running time and energises the set pieces including a car chase through labyrinthine alleys. The only surprise is how long it takes.

Susan Thompson (Teri Polo) is forced to uproot her family to a new, secluded neighbourhood in The Hole in 3D. This causes friction with her older, teenage son, Dane (Chris Massoglia). Younger son Lucas (Nathan Gamble) accepts the situation far more readily.

Playing in the basement one day, Dane and Lucas discover a trapdoor secured with several padlocks. Foolishly, the boys decide to remove the locks and open the trapdoor to reveal a seemingly bottomless pit. When they seek answers from the previous resident, Creepy Carl (Bruce Dern), the Thompsons learn that the hole is a portal to The Darkness, a terrifying force which preys upon human fears.

Scripted by Mark L Smith, The Hole attempts to please everyone when it could have easily gone much darker without alienating younger audiences, as Gremlins