Dhruv Sharma
‘The Town’ (2010) is a heist film. However, unlike most other similar movies, it is purely driven by the emotional depth of its characters and the stellar performances of its cast. In its opening scene itself, the film establishes that it’s based on the history of people in Charlestown. So, for obvious reasons, many viewers must be wondering if its filming was entirely carried out in Charlestown or in other locations as well. To answer that, we’ve created a list of all the locations in which the movie was filmed.
The Town Filming Locations
Fresh off his directorial debut in ‘Gone Baby Gone’, Ben Affleck became the star, director and co-writer for ‘The Town.’ As mentioned earlier, the film revolves around the lives of the people of Charlestown which is located in Boston. Affleck himself grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts which isn’t too far from Charlestown. Even so, before the film, he barely knew about the existence of Charlestown or its history of heists. After Affleck extensively researched for the film, its shooting was initiated in late August 2009 in Boston. The filming was then carried out in other different locations of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts
In the opening scene, the film reveals how Charlestown has “produced more bank robberies and armored car thieves than anywhere in the world.” It then shows abutting shots of Monument Square which is one of the most prominent monuments in the town. This is then followed by the first robbery which is carried out by Affleck and his crew at Cambridge Merchants Bank. As the name of the bank suggests, it is located in Cambridge and not in Charlestown. While the exteriors of this bank scene depict Cambridge Savings Bank 1374 Massachusetts Avenue in its backdrop, the interiors are that of East Boston Savings Bank, 198 Main Street in Melrose.
After pulling off the heist successfully, the crew heads to Mohegan Sun Casino, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, to clean all the money they’ve stolen from the bank. Once they set their hostage from the heist free and Ben Affleck’s character is asked to track her down, he meets her at Monument Laundry Center, 142 Bunker Hill Street for the first time. The two of them then go out on their first date at Neptune Oyster, 63 Salem Street, near North End Park. Following this, they go on several dates among which, one was filmed at Dunkin’ Donuts, 127 Tremont Street, at Boston Common. The other date where Jeremy Renner‘s character suddenly shows up was filmed at Grendel’s Den, 89 Winthrop Street.
The scene that shows Doug visiting his father at a correctional facility was filmed in Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Cedar Junction, 2405 Main Street, in Walpole. The second heist is carried out in what the movie labels as the ‘First Boston Savings Bank’. But the location where this was shot is actually a launderette known as A New Spin Laundry, 100 Salem Street at Parmenter Street.
The car chase that ensues right after the robbery was filmed in North Margin Street at Thacher Street and the scene where they narrowly escape the cops after setting their vehicle on fire was shot on Foster Street at Commercial Street. And finally, another location from the movie that most viewers will be able to recall is the flower shop where Doug’s boss Fergie operates all his missions. The scenes in this flower shop, labeled as ‘Town Flowers’ in the movie, were filmed in an actual shop known as Thornton Flower Shop, 111 Dorchester Street. However, unlike the movie, this shop is actually located in South Boston, not Charlestown.
Here’s a picture of Charlestown’s Old Sullys at 56 Union Street which was another filming location for the movie:
Here are some behind the scenes pictures from the sets of the movie:
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