Bosch’s Titus Welliver Stole the Show in Ben Affleck’s The Town With 92% on Rotten Tomatoes

Ben Affleck has delivered memorable performances in films like Gone Girl and The Accountant, but he’s also proven himself to be a talented director of thrillers over the last twenty years. He first gained recognition as a director with his 2007 debut, Gone Baby Gone, and has since created several critically acclaimed movies, including Argo, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. One of his best, but often forgotten, films is…

Ben Affleck’s film, The Town, boasts a talented cast, including John Hamm and Rebecca Hall, and a fresh story that avoids typical heist movie clichés. When it was released, the film proved that Affleck was a capable director, silencing those who had dismissed him as just a celebrity. Even after 15 years, The Town stands out as one of Affleck’s most inventive and overlooked films, and it deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

What is The Town About?

The movie The Town, based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, centers around four lifelong friends – Doug (played by Ben Affleck), Jem (Jeremy Renner), Gloansy (Slaine), and Dez (Owen Burke) – who pull off a successful bank robbery in Boston. Jem makes the risky decision to take bank manager Claire Keensey (Rebecca Hall) hostage, but ultimately lets her go without harm, despite objections from the others.

It was crazy when we found out Claire lived so close! Doug started keeping tabs on her, just to make sure she wasn’t saying anything to the cops about the robbery. Then things got really complicated. Doug started falling for Claire and, pretending to be someone else, he actually started dating her! He kept it a total secret from the rest of us – Jem would have been furious, maybe even done something to Claire if he’d found out. Doug kept seeing her, but he was also subtly pushing her to forget, or at least not talk about, everything she’d witnessed that night.

FBI agent Adam Frawley’s investigation reveals the criminals are connected to a local mob boss, Fergus. This prompts Doug to plan an escape from Boston with Claire, keeping his real identity a secret from her. As the FBI closes in on Claire, monitoring her communications, and Fergus learns about her relationship with Doug, Doug finds himself desperately trying to protect Claire and still manage his getaway. He schemes one final robbery, hoping it will secure his freedom, but it could just as easily ruin everything.

Titus Welliver Played A Small But Memorable Role in The Town

Before becoming widely known as Harry Bosch, the jazz-loving detective from the TV series, Titus Welliver was a familiar face in many popular shows. Throughout the 2000s, he consistently appeared in highly-regarded, critically acclaimed dramas, even if audiences didn’t always know his name.

Tommy Welliver played the calculating Irish gangster Jimmy O’Phelan on Sons of Anarchy, and appeared in recurring roles on shows like Lost and The Good Wife. While these weren’t leading roles, his performances were memorable. He also had a significant part in Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone, portraying Lionel McCready, the uncle of the missing girl who enlists Casey Affleck’s character, Patrick Kenzie, to investigate.

Jeremy Welliver’s part in The Town is typical of his work around 2010: not a leading role, but still noticeable. He plays Dino Ciampa, a Boston detective working with Jon Hamm’s FBI agent. While Hamm’s character is assertive and takes charge, Welliver’s Dino is more reserved and prefers to observe from the background.

Though he doesn’t have a big storyline or a standout scene, this character appears in the background of almost every scene with Hamm and has a few lines people remember. He plays a local police officer who understands the area well, and his quiet demeanor speaks to his experience.

Dino isn’t a major character, with just a few lines and limited screen time compared to other roles. However, some fans, particularly those familiar with Welliver’s work in Bosch, believe his appearance subtly adds to the realism of the FBI’s chase. It’s a common observation that Welliver is one of those actors you recognize more after seeing him in other projects – many viewers say they didn’t fully place him until rewatching The Town after watching Bosch.

He doesn’t try to dominate the film, but consistently delivers a solid, reliable performance. Surrounded by actors giving larger-than-life portrayals, Welliver’s character feels grounded and authentic, providing a nice contrast to Hamm’s intensely frustrating character.

The Town Was a Critical and Box Office Success

Although The Town didn’t immediately become a huge box office hit, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t successful. Thrillers often don’t reach the top of the charts, particularly when competing with big-budget blockbusters. It did perform well in September 2010, briefly holding the number one spot before being overtaken by Jackass 3D and Tron: Legacy.

Despite a relatively small $37 million budget, the movie The Town was a big success, earning over $92 million in the US and $154 million globally. This is particularly impressive when you consider it came out in 2010, a year when Avatar and other blockbusters like Alice in Wonderland and Iron Man 2 were still dominating theaters. Making it into the top 30 highest-grossing films that year was a significant achievement.

As a huge movie fan, I was thrilled to see how well this film was received by critics! It scored a fantastic 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 7 out of 10. What really struck me was how much praise Ben Affleck got – not just for being in the movie as the lead, but for directing it too! Everyone seemed to agree it was a really clever script with perfect casting, and it definitely cemented Affleck’s reputation as a director to watch.

I was so impressed with all the recognition this film received! It wasn’t just a critical darling, it actually won awards too – including an Oscar nomination for Jeremy Renner, five nominations from the BFCAA, and two awards from the National Board of Review. Ben Affleck’s first film, Gone Baby Gone, was fantastic, but The Town really showed everyone he wasn’t just lucky once – he’s a truly talented director.

Ben Affleck later directed Argo in 2012, which earned three Oscars, including Best Picture. More recently, he directed and starred in Air, a very successful film about how Nike made its groundbreaking deal with Michael Jordan.

Ben Affleck consistently proves he’s a talented director, just as skilled behind the camera as he is as an actor. He’s already working on a new crime thriller called Animals, which is currently being edited and looks to be another compelling, character-focused film for his directing resume. He doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

5 Questions
Test Your Knowledge: Ben Affleck’s Directorial Gem, The Town
Your Top Score
Attempts
0
0
Report Error

Found an error? Send it so it can be corrected.

Read More

2026-04-21 03:50