Ben Affleck’s second directorial effort firmly marked him out as a filmmaker to watch, and we’ve compiled ten movies like The Town that feature heists, shootouts, and even some romance.
Affleck also heads up the cast as a bank robber that ends up falling in love with a woman his gang took hostage during their most recent holdup, and complications inevitably arrive.
The heist genre has been done to death a thousand times over, but it remains one of the most purely entertaining forms of cinema when done right, and the following ten movies all manage to pull it off in their own distinct way.
10 Thrilling Heist Movies Like The Town
1. Heat (1995)
Michael Mann’s classic crime thriller was largely marketed on the clash of the titans between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, but there’s so much more to it than that.
A classic cops and robbers story is given a stylish modern noir makeover, a dogged cop and a hardened criminal form a bond of mutual respect despite their different approaches to life.
The gunfights are some of the best ever committed to film, and despite a lengthy running time Heat is one of those great heist movies like The Town that will keep you engaged from the first to last minutes.
2. Triple 9 (2016)
A gang of armed thieves makes a getaway after their latest bank robbery, but almost everything that can go sideways does in John Hillcoat’s efficient if uneven heist thriller.
Anthony Mackie leads a star-studded ensemble that also includes Casey Affleck, Chiwitel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, and Kate Winslet, so you know the performances will be up to scratch.
The third act might not be as constantly propulsive as the first two, but Triple 9 is one of the genre’s more underrated entries, and fully deserve a place on our list of movies like The Town.
3. The Bank Job (2008)
Jason Statham plays a petty thief lured into a daring heist by the promise of riches in one of Roger Donaldson’s best ever movies.
Not as action-heavy as the leading man’s usual output, The Bank Job is a worthy companion piece to movies like The Town thanks to a breezy yet grounded approach to the central robbery.
The plot is about as economical as it gets for the first two-thirds until all of the major players are revealed, which will have you questioning everyone’s motivations as the story unfolds.
4. Armored (2009)
An Iraq War veteran gets a job at the same armored car company as his father, before being convinced into taking part in a heist that goes wrong.
Armored makes no bones about the fact that it’s a B-level heist thriller, and nobody treats the material too seriously, which only dials up the enjoyment as the story progresses.
Some heist movies like The Town are designed for and geared towards critical acclaim, but others like Armored are happy for you to switch your brain off and just go along for the ride.
5. Sabotage (2014)
Suicide Squad’s David Ayer directs Arnold Schwarzenegger in a loose adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel.
The action icon heads up an elite DEA task-force, who pockets a share of the profits after their latest successful heist, before the team starts getting killed off one by one.
If you feel that too many movies like The Town are severely lacking when it comes to sheer machismo and gruesome violence, then Sabotage is the movie for you.
6. Takers (2010)
A gang of thieves with a strict set of rules is offered an opportunity that’s too good to turn down, but failing to do their homework, the job results in dire circumstances.
Short on star power but big on charisma and painted in the genre’s broadest strokes, Takers goes down great as some late-night weekend viewing.
7. Contraband (2012)
You always know pretty much exactly what you’re going to get when you see Mark Wahlberg starring in an action thriller, and Contraband ticks all of the required boxes.
Interestingly, Baltasar Kormakur directs the remake of an Icelandic movie that he starred in, that sees an ex-smuggler forced back into the game for the fabled ‘one last job’.
Formulaic to a tee, Contraband hits all of the plot and character beats that are to be expected, which makes it ideal viewing for fans of movies like The Town.
8. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Ben Affleck’s directorial debut saw him tackle the literary adaptation about a private detective hired to track down a missing person, who inadvertently stumbles upon a city-wide conspiracy.
A street-level crime story that doesn’t exactly focus on a heist, although revealing too much would be diving into spoiler territory, Gone Baby Gone is packed with tension and convincing performances.
As the project that launched Ben Affleck’s career behind the camera, you couldn’t make a list of movies like The Town without including Gone Baby Gone.
9. Baby Driver (2017)
Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is very much style over substance, but that’s hardly an issue when you’ve got a movie that’s so uniquely stylish and original you can’t help but love it.
Getaway driver Baby finds himself caught up with the wrong crowd, and must do everything in his power to protect the ones he loves from the reprisals of double and triple crosses.
A perfect marriage of music and motion, soundtrack and synergy, Baby Driver is the singular work of a filmmaker handed complete creative control, and the results are spectacular.
10. Live by Night (2016)
As the big-screen adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel that’s directed by Ben Affleck, Live by Night is almost obligated to join Gone Baby Gone on our countdown of movies like The Town.
A period piece, the 1920s-set crime drama tracks the rise and fall of a would-be crime kingpin, who just happens to be the son of a famed police officer and has recently robbed a mob boss.
Affleck sticks to what he knows in terms of thematic content, and the setting allows for a fresh coat of paint and some lavish production design, even if it can’t quite match his earlier work.