Think of Charlestown Massachusetts and as a (former) die-hard Bostonian, I think of Bunker Hill monument. But it’s also the place where a new Revolution is rising. A place where more bank robberies take place then anyplace in America. When the movie opens, Doug (Ben Affleck) and his trigger-happy best pal, Jem (Oscar nominated Jeremy Renner) rob a bank, where the manager, Claire (Rebecca Hall) gets in the way. Later on, Jem – who could use a course in anger-management – decides that Claire “needs to be dealt with.” Doug volunteers to do the job as he already found her attractive during the robbery. Next thing we know he’s fallen for Claire and his world could fall down around him just as quickly. Enter Mad Men’s John Hamm as the FBI guy though we can’t help thinking he’ll always be “Don Draper.” Couldn’t they have just changed his hair style just a little? Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively is truly the definition of a talented actress portraying the drugged-out sister to Jem, and the ex lover to Doug. But the real star in this movie is the city of Boston. And Affleck as Director knows how to work his turf. The specific accent – Dorchester, Southie, East-a BosT – the locals, Fenway park, Boston Garden, you name it…and always, always, the messy entanglements that come into the most successful of these incestuous characters: The Departed, Southie, Mystic River. A Beantown film of this quality usually shines and this one twinkles high above the rest. Alflecks’s done Boston’s culture proud – tapping into and incorporating every cliché. How many people can claim a high speed chase through the narrow streets of the North End? Or a robbery underneath Fenway Park? And when one of the thugs uses the word “Authenticous” and meant “Authentic” you belly-laugh. Affleck’s a bad guy with a heart, a bad guy with a love of hockey, a bad guy we just plain love to love with a broken childhood and imprisoned father (Chris Cooper). Not since Warren Beatty’s portrayal of “Bugsy” have we cared about a likeable bad guy this much. Move over Gone Baby Gone, you’ve got some daddy competition from your former director. Three and a half tiaras