The Town

Doug MacRay is a skilled and calculating thief, who, unlike his crewmates, has grown weary of the life of crime. Despite his long involvement in unlawful activities, Doug harbors a desire to leave the underworld behind and make a fresh start. He sees this as a chance for redemption, an escape from the bleak streets of Boston where he was raised. Doug and his crew - Mr. Sugar, Jem, and Fergie - are skilled bank robbers, and their latest score allows them to gather the necessary funds to evade capture and sustain themselves until they make their next move. However, this particular job goes awry when they choose to kidnap Claire, a beautiful and charming bank branch manager, and her boyfriend. Sugar believes that she can provide the crew with insight into the bank's security procedures, thereby compensating for any losses incurred during the heist. Throughout his surveillance, Doug cannot help but notice Claire's kindness, intelligence, and poise. On the other hand, Claire, in her confined state, is taken aback by the change in her captors - Doug, in particular, seems different. As he becomes increasingly infatuated with Claire, his allegiance is divided between maintaining the bonds of trust that bind him to his crew and developing genuine emotions for the woman who could possibly clear his conscience of the crime. Boston detective Adam Frawley is a persistent and relentless FBI agent, well-experienced in tracking down Boston's criminally active. He has already had a long history with crime lord Mal Duffy and his gang, which included a police officer turned informant. Frawley effectively and strategically starts confronting MacRay for being supposedly involved in Duffy's crime syndicate. In so doing, he unknowingly interjects himself into MacRay's private life. As the days pass, the atmosphere in the rundown Dorchester neighborhood is suffocatingly toxic. The pressure from Frawley only adds to the unease that pervades the lives of Doug and his crew, who sense their increasingly precarious position. Compelled by his burgeoning feelings, Doug chooses to step out of character and protect Claire from his crew's self-serving intentions, revealing the deeper emotional conflict that has grown inside of him. With his obsession turning ever more against his peers, Doug begins courting Claire during the middle of the ordeal of evading the FBI. The power of love gradually wearily enables Claire also begin to warm up to him. At this pivotal turning point, Frawley, still determined to close the case of kidnaping by any means, ultimately exposes Doug and creates tension between the estranged couple. Increasing close proximity with Claire and simultaneous obsession with his peers allow Doug a mixture of conflicting emotions to rise dramatically. No longer certain what the choice is he is about to make, Doug strolls out of a tense incident at a pawnshop. He decides, in order to ensure that Frawley would not uncover Claire's location and ensure the security and happiness of the woman, to finally confront the authorities about his prior involvement in crime as an active and seasoned thief. Doug surrenders, paving the road for Claire to escape her current circumstances safely. Ironically, as Doug is finally setting his life back on a path of redemption by attempting to break ties with his crew, Claire emerges having also developed sentiments for Doug, ultimately illustrating once again that their whirlwind romance would present them with a choice to abandon the remnants of their old lives and start anew, ultimately bringing the long, winding road they both came across to its grand conclusion.