Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Ben Affleck
Writer: Jimmy Ellis & John Malone
Cast: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jim Sturgess, Aidan Turner, Blythe Danner, January Jones, Jessie Buckley, Noah Jupe, Michael Pitt, Kristen Connolly, Lauren Cohan, Titus Welliver
Plot: 1944
Dillon Boylan (Ben Affleck) sits in the Boylan Pub waiting to close the pub. He has a minute until closing time. He hears the sound of the front door opening and heads behind the counter to serve a beer. The man, dressed in a suit, take off his hat. He takes a seat and introduces himself as Oswald J Israel (Titus Welliver) he tells him that he is from the bank and has some terrible news. Dillon finishes pouring the drink and places it on the bar. Oswald has a sip and speaks some more. He tells him that he is thankful for what Dillon did in the First World War and that he is grateful for what the other three Boylan brothers are doing right now. He also gives him his condolences about the Boylan’s father. He tells Boylan the bad news, his father had been running the business into the ground, and that the bank needs the money by the end of the year otherwise they will be forced to close the pub indefinitely. Oswald finishes his beer and walks out the door.
1945
Sean (Adam Driver), Luke (Aidan Turner) and Craig Boylan (Jim Sturgess) are on the train returning home from war to Lowell Massachusetts. Sean is staring into the distance at nothing. Luke won’t stop talking, he tries to get the attention of Craig but he will not talk. They arrive at their stop and are immediately greeted by members of their family. Their mother, Grace (Blythe Danner), is there to greet them all with hugs. She tells them that their brother is waiting for all of them with bad news at the pub. Craig is approached by Eve (Kristen Connolly), his wife, she kisses him, he stands there and takes the kiss, but is mostly expressionless. She starts talking to him but he doesn’t say much, just a few words here and there. They all walk away, the walk from the station to the pub isn’t far so the biys decide to walk there and leave Grace and Eve by themselves to get home.
The three brothers arrive at the pub which has now been bordered shut, they all greet Dillon with smiles and a hug. Luke asks what happened to their father's pub while they were gone. Dillon says he will tell them once they are inside. Dillon shows them a way to break into the pub through a broken piece of wood.
Dillon pours all four of them a drink for old times’ sake and gives everyone a seat. He begins to tell them about what happened with Oswald and how the bank took the business off of them. He says that their father had been running the business into the ground for years and there was nothing they could do about it. He says that that is enough of the boring talk and asks if any of them have interesting stories about the war. Luke talks about the French women he bedded when his platoon was there. Dillon tells them about the time he got diarrhea during a fire fight. Craig says something similar happened to him outside Normandy. Dillon, Craig and Luke all look at Sean for him tell a story. Sean takes a swig of beer and tells them that his platoon was liberating a Nazi prisoner of war camp, but they were out-numbered and out-gunned. As the rest of his platoon was brutally gunned down, Sean tells his brothers that he pretended to be dead for 10 hours until night fall in order to make his escape.
Sergeant James Hannafin (Matt Damon) and his partner Officer Michael Guthrie (Michael Pitt) are called in to the scene of a murder. They begin interviewing a stevedore that found the body near the docks. Hannafin notices and comes to the conclusion that the victim was military based off of the tattoos on his body. He decides to take a closer look at the deceased and notices track marks on his arms. Guthrie asks what the marks are, and Hannafin tells Guthrie that the deceased was a dope head.
With the family bar shut down, Dillon is at home with his wife Abbie (January Jones). The two of them discuss what happened with the pub and what Dillon could do to provide for the family. Abbie suggests that Dillon get a job down at the docks. Dillon takes it on board and tells her he will see about it in the morning. He kisses his wife.
Dillon meets up with Craig early in the morning and talks him into going to the stevedore firm with him. When they arrive however they are both told that now the war is over, the stevedore business is drying up and that they can’t support new employees now. Both men return home to their wives feeling down as they cannot be the breadwinners for the household but rather their wives are.
Sean and Luke are at a local bar. Luke says it's weird having to pay for drinks. Sean sits and simply sips his drink, whereas Luke is busy chatting up a group of girls. Luke talks to them a while longer, while Sean just sits silently and drinks. Eventually Luke taps Sean on the shoulder and asks if he wants in on some fun, Sean doesn’t say a word. Luke shrugs his shoulders and walks out of the bar with a girl in tow.
In the morning, Luke wakes up next to a woman in bed, he reads the name on her identification and it reads Esti Simpson (Jessie Buckley). Grace watches Luke through the window trying to subtly attempt to sneak Esti out of the house. Grace just pretends she doesn’t notice and when Luke comes back inside asks how his night was.
Dillon walks into his son’s bedroom and notices him reading a book. He is intrigued by the book and asks his son to tell him about it. Matthew tells him about the story “The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood”. He tells him that Hood steals from the rich, Dillon says that he is a bad man then, Matthew shakes his head saying no, he gives back to those who need it, the poor. He asks if he keeps any of the money for himself, Matthew says only a little. Dillon thanks his son and shares a hug.
Back in the bar, the Boylan brothers are removing all of their belongings, looking defeated. Dillon runs into the bar and asks them if they know anything about Robin Hood. Only Sean seems to know who Robin Hood is. Sean starts explaining it to them, with Dillon nodding along. Dillon asks the boys what if they do something like that, what if they take from the rich and give it to the men who have come back from war with no income, no job. The ones the government abandoned. Craig objects, saying that doing something like that is immoral, but Dillon interjects that they would only take from the banks that are insured by the government, the brothers all look at each other.
The brothers sit in the family car outside the nearest bank branch. They wait for a minute, with Luke talking to all his brothers with no response. Dillon then sees Israel walking from the branch, he becomes angry and says that this branch is the one. He drives off.
Sergeant Hannafin is at home with his wife Nancy Hannafin (Lauren Cohan). He confides in her his worries about the men coming back from war. He believes that the end of the war will increase in crime stateside. She walks toward him and hugs him, and simply tells him to stay safe.
Sitting at the same bar as earlier is Sean and Luke. A shady man walks up to them and offers them some heroin, the two of them look at each other, and they both turn it down. Sean is surprised by Luke turning down the heroin he is no stranger to drugs. Sean states that he is surprised Luke hasn’t tried dipping his wick in anything that moves yet, Luke gets all serious and tells Sean he is waiting for a certain hellcat named Esti to show up again. Luke sits in a booth reading Robin Hood stories. He looks up from his book and spots Esti enter. He waits for her to sit then sits next to her, she doesn’t seem to interested in him. He asks her a few questions but she only answers with yes or no’s. She apologizes to him then continues to say that she wants a serious man and not an immature boy. She stands and leaves, leaving Luke looking defeated.
After work in the evening Eve goes to Dillon and Abbie’s house. Dillon is not home but she wanted to speak with Abbie anyway. She is welcomed inside and the two sit and chat. Eve confides in Abbie how concerned she is by Craig’s lack of communication. She says that since returning from war all she can get out of him is one worded answers. Abbie tells her that she needs to be patient. She adds that when Dillon returned from WWI, it took him a few years to act somewhat like his former self, and even then he was never quite the same. Eve looks exhausted but just nods her head.
Sergeant Hannafin and Officer Guthrie inform their superior officers that they believe the murder at the docks may have been a part of the drugs that have been coming through shipments of supplies coming back from the war. The superiors are not impressed with Hannafin and Guthrie’s theory and dismiss them both. As they walk out Hannafin tells Guthrie that they need more solid evidence.
The Boylan brothers are outside the bank, they make sure that there is no bullets in the gun, they want no casualties. They enter the bank and tell everyone to get on the floor. Very haphazardly they take money from tills, they don’t even try to touch the safe. The brothers escape the bank with $5000, and more importantly to them, nobody got hurt.
At the foreclosed bar, the brothers discuss what to do with the cash. Dillon hands them each $250. Luke and Sean are both baffled why they are only getting such a small amount. Dillon explains that if they go around town throwing money around, someone might get suspicious. Craig asks if they can buy the bar back now, but Dillon says not yet - it would raise too many red flags, especially since they just robbed the man who foreclosed on them in the first place. Dillon assures his brothers he will find a safe place for the cash and will give them more when it's safer to do so.
On the way home Dillon stops by a corner store and buys his wife some flowers with some of his share from the robbery. He arrives home and Abbie is pleased with the love shown by Dillon, but she questions how he got the money to get them. He says he can't tell her, but he is working on a business plan that will set them up for the foreseeable future.
Hannafin and Guthrie are informed by their superiors that they have been taken off the case of the death at the docks and put onto a bank robbery case. They are both evidently angered, but Hannafin says that even if their bosses are going to ignore their theories, at least they aren’t taken off all the important cases.
Craig, Sean and Luke approach Dillon with a plan to rob another bank branch that is overseen by Israel. Dillon thinks it's too soon, but his brothers convince him to join the job. They stake out the bank for a short while and there isn't much foot traffic, so they decide to hit it right then and there. There are no customers inside, so the brothers are able to quickly get the manager to let them into the vault for the cash. While they're inside loading their bags, Officer Guthrie enters the bank. Sean pistol whips Guthrie, allowing the brothers to escape.
Back at the bar, Dillon is furious that Sean resorted to violence. Sean says he did what he had to do so they could get away with the money. Dillon says that he figured Sean would have gotten his violent streak out of his system during the war, but he gifured wrong. Sean storms out of the bar. Dillon tells Craig and Luke that it is important that they don't hurt anyone else, because then their robberies would no longer be victimless crimes.
The brothers officially re-open the family bar, Boylan Pub. Dillon then brings up the subject of another robbery. Craig says that they've already accomplished what they set out to do and got the bar back from the bank. Luke says they should quit while they're ahead. Dillon tells his brothers that a bank is set to receive a large influx of cash in the form of veterans funds. Sean is against the idea of stealing money that should be going to fellow veterans. Dillon tells him that the funds are federally insured, so the they wouldn't be stealing from the veterans. They would still get their money from the government. Luke, Sean and Craig aren't sure about the job, but Dillon convinces them it will be the last time and it will be enough cash to set them all up for life.
Luke spots Esti at the Boylan Pub and tries to impress her by throwing money around and giving people free drinks. She tells him that she isn't impressed by money, but she does find him charming. Esti tells Luke that she will agree to leave the bar with him to spend time some place more quiet, but there will be no sex involved this time around. Luke takes her up on the offer and they walk through the street of Lowell. Eventually they get to the Boylan family home. She reminds Luke that she isn't going to have sex with him again, and he says he knows. He leads her inside and introduces Esti to his mother Grace, who is excited to meet Esti. Grace reveals to Esti that Luke has never brought any girls home to meet her before, so he must think she's special.
Hannafin visits the re-opened Boylan Pub. He tells Dillon that he's glad his family got the bar back from the bank. Hannafin asks Dillon how they managed to get the money together to do so, and Dillon tells Hannafin that Luke won a large sum of money gambling, but hopes Hannafin won't mention anything to his superiors down at the police station. Hannafin laughs, saying that a free drink could make him easily forget such information. Dillon tells Hannafin to sit down and pours him a drink.
At the police station, Guthrie tells Hannafin that he read that a bank in the area is getting a large shipment of veterans funds cash that day. Hannafin asks Guthrie if he thinks their merry band of robbers could resist such a payday, and Guthrie shakes his head. Hannafin then begins rounding up officers at the precinct to take part in a sting operation.
As Dillon is getting ready at his house, he realizes he can't find his gun. He eventually finds his son Matthew playing around with it. Dillon grabs the pistol from Matthew and tells him that guns aren't toys and he shouldn't be messing around with them. Matthew asks why Dillon why he keeps taking it when he goes out. Dillon tells Matthew that he takes it with him for protection since the city can be dangerous. Abbie stops Dillon before he leaves. She tells Dillon that she knows Dillon has been doing something dangerous, but she isn't going to ask him any questions about it. She just wants him to promise that he'll come home that night once he's done with whatever it is he's up to. Dillon kisses his wife and says he promises.
Craig is getting ready to head out for the robbery at his house. His wife Eve tries talking to him and asking about what he's up to, but Craig doesn't respond. He walks out the front door silently. Eve sits down and begins crying.
When the Boylan brothers reach the bank, they look around outside and don't see anything out of the ordinary. Luke reminds his brothers that the bank closes in 30 minutes. Dillon says they should go in one at a time so that they don't look like a gang of bank robbers. Once they are all inside, they pull green bandanas up over their faces and pull out their guns. They order the manager to let them into the vault. Once inside, they find that there is no large shipment of cash in the vault, just the usual amount of money. Sean pistol whips the manager and demands to know where the veterans funds are. The manager, nose bleeding, says that the funds were sent to a different bank branch at the last minute. The brothers load their bags up with the cash from the vault.
When the Boylan brothers leave the bank, they find Hannafin, Guthrie and several officers waiting outside for them. Sean pulls his gun and opens fires on the officers. Dillon, Craig and Luke then do the same. The police officers take cover behind their cars. The brothers then run down an alley way. Hannafin orders Guthrie and the officers to give chase while he gets into his car.
With sirens nearby, the brothers split up into two pairs. Craig and Luke head in one direction, while Dillon and Sean head in the other. A group of officers corner Dillon and Sean and open fire. Dillon and Sean take cover behind some crates. Sean suddenly gets a far off look in his eyes and stands up. Dillon asks what he's doing, but Sean doesn't say anything. Sean shoots down three of the officers, before he finally takes a bullet to the chest from the one surviving officer. Dillon then gets up and shoots the officer, killing him. Dillon kneels beside Sean. Dillon holds his hand and thanks him as Sean dies. Dillon then grabs Sean's bag of money and continues his getaway.
Craig and Luke don't encounter any more police officers on their getaway as they make it all the way back to the family bar with their shares of the money. Luke is nervous though and says that's taking his share and getting out of town with Esti. Luke suggests that Craig does the same and take his family on a long trip or something until the heat dies down. Craig confides in Luke that he really doesn't feel any connection to his wife anymore. It feels like his wife Eve moved on without him after he left for the war and he really doesn't have the interest in trying to catch up with her life.
Dillon continues his getaway through the alleyways of Lowell until suddenly he is hit by Hannafin's car. Dillon hits the ground. Hannafin gets out of the car with his gun drawn. Dillon and Hannafin aim their guns at each other. Hannafin expresses surprise that Dillon would be robbing banks since Hannafin always thought he was a good man. Dillon says he's doing what he has to do to provide for his family. Hannafin implores Dillon to come in quietly. Dillon tells Hannafin that he made a promise to be home that night and pulls the trigger. Hannafin fires his gun as well. Dillon is hit in the shoulder. Hannafin is hit in the neck. Dillon goes to Hannafin's side as he bleeds profusely from his neck. Dillon tells Hannafin that he's never liked hurting people. Dillon grabs his bags of money and heads home. Not long after, Guthrie finds Hannafin's body and radios for an ambulance even though Hannafin is clearly dead.
Craig boards a train heading west. He looks at a photograph of his wife Eve, and drops it out the open window. The conductor comes through and collects everyone's tickets. When he gets to Craig, he asks where Craig is heading. Craig says he isn't sure, but he's glad he isn't sure.
Dillon returns home as promised, but Abbie is shocked to find him wounded. She calls for Matthew and has him get her sewing kit ready. Dillon pulls out a pair of pliers and pulls the bullet out of his shoulder. Matthew hands his mother the sewing kit. Dillon asks Matthew to get him a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. Dillon takes a large gulp of whiskey, and then pours some over his wound. Abbie then stitches up the wound on Dillon's shoulder. She asks him if the family has to leave Lowell. Dillon shakes his head and tells her that he has a family business to run.
Down at the docks, Luke, Esti and Grace board an ocean liner set for voyage to Ireland. Grace tells them that she has never been to Ireland, although her late husband was born there and her parents emigrated from Ireland. She thanks Luke for taking her on such a trip. Luke gives his mother a hug and tells her that he's glad she's excited. Esti tells Luke that she definitely didn't picture this when she first met Luke, and kisses Luke.
Late at night, Dillon carries a bag of money down the street. He stops when he gets in front of a house. He looks in the window and sees Nancy Hannafin in mourning through the front window. Dillon sets the bag of money on the doorstep and walks away. Hearing something at her front door, Nancy gets up and opens the door and finds the bag. She opens it and sees the money. She thinks about it for a second, then picks the bag up and brings it into her home.
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