The Town is a frustrating film to me, but not because it’s a bad movie. Far from it. The movie is very good in point of fact, it’s just that there are so many little ways that it could have been so much better.

But first, the positive. This movie is visually stunning. In heists and in action sequences — both of which this movie has in abundance — the camera work is as difficult as it is vital. It’s imperative that the editing and visuals be fast enough to keep the tension up but slow enough that we can clearly see what’s going on. Fortunately, every shot in this movie was perfectly set and every cut was expertly done. Even in the film’s quieter and talkier moments, this movie never looks anything less than superb.

The writing is also very good. The dialogue chops that got Ben Affleck a writing Oscar are in full effect here. Every relationship pops and pretty much every character is made wonderfully three-dimensional, even if they only have a scene or two. The only exceptions to this rule are the two bank robbers who aren’t played by Affleck or Jeremy Renner. These two are half of a foursome that are supposed to be extremely tight and we do see the four of them together on and off the job several times. Yet these two are nowhere near as well-defined as our two stars. Care to guess if they make it out of the movie alive?

Of course, there are a few plot holes here and there. I didn’t completely get why Affleck wandered off during the climax and there’s a car chase when I thought that our thieves were attracting way too much attention when they should’ve been trying to blend in. Then we have fully-clothed sex scenes, bottomless ammo clips, bulletproof vests that completely stop point-blank rounds and gunshot wounds that aren’t nearly as messy or fatal as they should be. Of course, I’m willing to let all of that slide, since these distracting inaccuracies are only slightly less old and ubiquitous than film itself.

As our leading actor, Ben Affleck does very nicely for himself. In fact, there’s a particular storyline about his mother that I thought he acted out especially well. As a director, Affleck surrounded himself with a superlative cast, though they were all utilized to varying degrees of quality.

For example, there’s Jeremy Renner. This guy plays a total maverick, uncomfortable with even the thought of a “normal” life. Someone who actively lives by the sword and fights to the day when he dies by it. Now, where have I seen that before? Seriously, there came a point in the movie when I thought that I was watching the same character. That’s hardly a knock against Renner, since he was extraordinary as William James and he does an equally great job as James Coughlin. Still, I just know that he’s not a one-trick pony and I’d like to see more from him. Maybe the guy should play a superhero, that would be something new.

Then we have Jon Hamm as our antagonist from the FBI. I’m woefully unfamiliar with his work as Don Draper, so I can’t say if this is another “more of the same” situation, but his character here is a true hardass. This is a man devoted to catching bad guys and unafraid to push whatever painful buttons he can to make that happen. Even better is that Hamm plays him as a heartless son of a bitch, but not so much that he veers into pure evil. He could be a cruel motherfucker from one perspective while simultaneously being a damn good cop from another. It’s an amazing performance.

Aside from Rebecca Hall, who plays a serviceable romantic lead, the rest of the cast is comprised of actors who don’t get nearly the screen time they deserve. I can understand why Chris Cooper only got one scene, since his character can only do so much while serving a life sentence, but his appearance here is still pretty much a glorified cameo.

Next is Pete Postlethwaite, playing Affleck’s boss. You’d think that would be an important role, right? Not from the amount of screen time he gets. The guy gets one brief introductory scene before he completely disappears, never to be seen again until the movie’s last third. Sure, that’s enough time to establish the unfortunately-named Fergie as a monster, but it still feels rushed.

Blake Lively’s character suffers from the exact same problem. One quick introduction in the first act, then she disappears until the final third. This is especially frustrating because during the third act, we learn that Lively has been an item with Affleck for quite some time. What’s more, she’s apparently been struggling to leave Charlestown just as Affleck is, which is pretty much the theme of the entire movie. Lively plays all of this wonderfully, making a three-dimensional character out of pretty much nothing, which begs the question of where she’s been for half the movie. Was her subplot left on the cutting room floor or something?

Last but not least, there’s the ending. To put this as spoiler-free as I possibly can, this film gets a happy ending. Affleck lives happily ever after. The problem with this, to paraphrase another fictional criminal, is that happily ever after isn’t for people like Affleck. I understand that the film is about our hero leaving his past of crime to find a better future, but completely forgetting that past and all the baggage it entails is just inexcusable. Moreover, the score for that ending is just horrid, turning the scene to schmaltz and sealing the impossible certainty that Affleck will someday die peacefully.

Don’t get me wrong: The Town is a very good movie, but it had the potential to be a great movie and it isn’t. I’ll also admit that I haven’t read the book this movie is based on, so I don’t know how many of my complaints against the movie are actually against Chuck Hogan. In any case, Affleck has established himself as a very potent behind-the-scenes talent. He shows wonderful visual prowess, great skill for dialogue and a superb knack for casting. I can’t wait to see what he does next, provided he works on his story pacing.