Cobblestone Street in Boston, Massachusetts
New York City has long been Hollywood’s east coast darling as the set of many of its greatest films. However, Boston has hosted some of the most award-winning dramas of the past few decades, particularly since 2000. Here are five of the best:
#1: The Departed (2006)
With an all-star cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin, The Departed is among the most famous movies set in Boston in the last decade. The film won four Oscars, including Best Picture. The plot centers around an Irish Mob boss who plants a mole in the Massachusetts State Police, while the police simultaneously send one of their own undercover to infiltrate the mob. The film is based in South Boston, however much of the filming was actually done in New York.
#2: 21 (2008)
This stylized adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s best-selling book Bringing Down the House stars Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, and Laurence Fishburne. It tells the tale of the MIT Blackjack Team that won millions in Vegas through a brilliant card-counting scheme. Some scenes were shot at Harvard Medical School, Chinatown, and in Cambridge, while those purported to be on the MIT campus were actually filmed at Boston University.
#3: Gone, Baby, Gone (2007)
Ben Affleck’s directorial debut is based on the Dennis Lehane novel of the same name. Gone, Baby, Gone, which technically takes place in Dorchester, tells the story of a kidnapped 4-year old girl and the detectives determined to find her. Casey Affleck stars as a private investigator who agrees to take on the case, only to stumble upon a mass of police corruption. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman co-star as hardened members of the Boston police department.
Skyline of Boston, Massachusetts
#4: Good Will Hunting (1997)
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck saw their big screen debut in 1997’s Good Will Hunting. Damon stars as Will Hunting, a genius living quietly as a MIT janitor, who attempts to woo a wealthy Harvard student played by Minnie Driver. Some scenes were shot in Toronto, but the majority of the film was shot on location in Cambridge.
#5: Mystic River (2003)
If Good Will Hunting hinted at Hollywood’s return to Beantown, Mystic River cemented it. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, and Tim Robbins as three Boston neighborhood friends. When one of their daughters is murdered, a complex series of events unfolds leaving two of the men suspecting the third could be behind it. The best part is that the entire film was shot on location in Boston.
Film buffs looking to tour the locations from these and many other films should check out the Boston TV and Movie Sites Tour. This three-hour guided coach tour takes visitors through the city with stops at recognizable spots from these movies and more!
See all that Boston has to offer with these tours!
-Contributed by Mike Richard