In an attempt to rally a group of House Republicans behind John Boehner’s (now-being-hastily-rewritten) debt ceiling bill, caucus leaders turned to an unlikely source: The 2010 Ben Affleck thriller The Town, a film about loyalty among thieves that, nevertheless, seemed to House aides like a good movie to tell Washington Post reporters about as some sort of colorful example of their fighting spirit or whatever. According to the Post, a meeting led by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (Surely he could have found an appropriate Invasion Of The Body Snatchers clip?) kicked off with the below scene in which Affleck approaches Jeremy Renner for assistance, saying, “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later,” to which Renner responds, “Whose car are we gonna take?” The movie magic had its intended effect on Florida Rep. Allen West, at least, who stood up as if on cue to say, “I’m ready to drive the car.” Cue ass-kicking, getting-it-done music.
Which is certainly cinematic and inspirational and all, except for the fact that, as you can clearly see in the video, Affleck’s actual dialogue (omitted in the original Post article) ends with the line “…and we’re gonna hurt some people.” This, plus the fact that it’s meant to get the blood coursing in independent-minded Republican stand-in Renner for a mission of revenge, certainly makes for a potent metaphor, one that could be exploited if anyone in an opposing political camp happened to, you know, have an interest in waging some sort of public campaign against you. In conclusion, probably best to leave The Town as a source of inspiration to the amateur bank robbers. Naturally, Affleck himself has already responded to the incident, saying, “I don’t know if this is a compliment or the ultimate repudiation—but if they’re going to be watching movies, I think The Company Men is more appropriate.” Or hey, even Reindeer Games, as long as they’re just sort of dicking around up there.
