When Ben Affleck directed, co-wrote, and starred in The Town, he justified his casting as Batman. Because, just like Batman, the actor is a jack-of-all-trades. And you would be happy to know that his movie is now available to stream on Netflix.

Nothing beats a true-crime thriller, but a novel adaptation comes pretty close to it. Thus, fans have another reason to stream the 2010 movie as it was an adaptation of Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. So, keep reading to find out if Ben Affleck, the director is better than the actor and the writer.

The Town synopsis and cast

Doug (Ben Affleck), a resident of Charlestown, leads a gang of thieves on a regular heist. But things go haywire when Doug finds out that the hostage was from the same town. This leads to introspection and cracks between the gang as Doug and his brother-like friend James have different opinions.

We have previously seen movies where the bad guy falls in love with one of his victims and wants to change his life. Money Heist fans will also enjoy The Town as the story involves a heist. There is no such thing as too much star power. Thus, the casting directors of The Town added some big stars to the movie:

• Ben Affleck as Doug MacRay
• Rebecca Hall as Claire Keesey
• Jeremy Renner as James Coughlin
• Blake Lively as Krista Coughlin
• Jon Hamm as FBI SA Adam Frawley

Ben Affleck was last seen in Triple Red Frontier. Netflix has also been late in acquiring the rights to The Town as the movie was released on September 17, 2010.

What reviews has Ben Affleck received for The Town?

The Town has scored an IMDb rating of 7.5 and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. We have reviews from established critics if the numbers aren’t enough to help you with your judgment.

Deborah Ross from The Spectator says: “So this isn’t fresh, exactly, but it is tense and exciting and well performed and you do end up caring about the people you’ve been manipulated into caring about.”

Roger Ebert says: “The Town Affleck’s second film as a director wants to do something more, to make a biographical and even philosophical statement about the culture of crime, but it doesn’t do that as successfully.”

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So, have you decided whether The Town on Netflix is worth your time?