comment #1

Pelham123 says ...

I just finished reading "Gone Baby Gone" and if the movie is faithful to the book then Affleck's film is gonna be very dark. It certainly looks like they cast it right.

comment #2

btwnproductions says ...

Gone Baby Gone is excellent. It will surprise a lot of people. I prefer Affleck stick with movies for the time being.

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

He's also one of Bill Maher's best panelists. Many of us here in Virginia want him to make his home in Albemarle County permanent and one day run for Congress. But he's still young he's got plenty of time. As has been mentioned here, it seems as if his career has caught a second wind.

comment #4

jbf81 says ...

He can blame his relationship with JLo all he wants, but his career is in the garbage because he completely lost his acting integrity and start to work only for money and fame, I mean you dont film Armageddon, Bounce, Daredevil, Gigli, Paycheck, Jersey Girl, Surviving Christmas if you have the slightly concern with script and good quality.

He wanted to be a star, he wanted badly and now he is paying the price. And that’s why I pray to God that Hollywood keep their dirty hands from Ryan Gosling, at least when I watch a Gosling film I know that I will see a good performance and an actor who actually cares about script.

comment #5

Craig Kennedy says ...

Affleck wasn't the first guy to hit Hollywood with stars in his eyes, but he's paid a higher price for it than many.

After enjoying him in the Ocean's movies and seeing him in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I think it's safe to say brother Casey is going to have the acting success that Ben never enjoyed.

comment #6

solange4 says ...

He's okay, likeable I guess but I can only see him in light comedic or contemporary action films. No range whatsoever. And he seems to fail to realize that Jennifer Lopez suffered more damage to her career than he did. She was a bigger star than he during their relationship. After Bennifer, she hasn't been cast in any decent films and had to go back to her music career. Yet, I don't see her complaining and crying about it or excuse it as an excuse why their careers are in the dumper the way he does. And I dislike Lopez.

comment #7

lazarus says ...

juligen, while Affleck has appeared in a lot of crap, I don't think it's fair to include Bounce and Jersey Girl on that list. Don Roos' film before Bounce, The Opposite of Sex, was very well-written, and I imagine a lot of actors would have loved to work with one of his scripts. And while I don't think Bounce was a great film, the role itself, a recovering alcoholic who blames himself for the death of the guy who took his airline ticket and crashed, was a meaty one for him to take, and he did a great job. Jersey Girl was unsuccessful on many fronts, you can't fault him for collaborating with the guy who gave him his first lead role in Chasing Amy, probably one of the 3 good ones he's had.

comment #8

solange4 says ...

He's certainly one of the more intelligent actors around right now - that is to say, when I hear his interviews, he's able to express himself clearly and with humor. Like I said before, very likeable, but he'll always be an average actor.

comment #9

jbf81 says ...

I hear what you are saying Solang, he REALLY seems to be a nice guy, definitely not a diva or a jack ass , and there is NOTHING wrong and wanting to be a star, but in this businesses you have to take care of your image. Work in crap films can be as bad as having a scandalous personal life.

And also WORD about Jennifer never talk about him in interviews, she until this day is refereed as a crap actress witch SHE IS NOT . Go see Selena, U Turn and Out of Sigh.

comment #10

Ogami Itto says ...

The tabloids didn't force him to appear in J.Lo music videos kissing her fat ass, nor did they, as others have said, make him appear in awful movies (I saw "Man About Town" last week on HBO ... Jesus Christ). The problem is that he doesn't seem to have any range, however likeable or intelligent he may be.

Hopefully (for his and all our sakes) directing works out for him and he makes some quality films. Or he could just go into politics.

comment #11

Ogami Itto says ...

Lopez has been good in movies like Selena, U-Turn, and Out of Sight -- especially the latter --but I think she got lazy like so many actors and decided a paycheck was more important than the quality of the work.

I think Affleck could come back; I don't see Lopez doing it, though.

comment #12

solange4 says ...

well, true, no one forced Affleck into anything including the music video thing and appearing on 2o/20 or Barbara Walters or some such together and talking about their life together, and even doing soem cooking in the kitchen together. But he's human and he's simply reflecting on what's happened to his career. Jennifer was at one time the top or one of the top female box office earners. She's suffered just as much as Affleck over this whole thing, career-wise. She's also limited as Ben is, range-wise as an actress. You could say the same thing about Ben as far as choosing paycheck over quality based on some of the movies he's made. They've both made bad choices and they have to live with the consequences.

comment #13

MASON says ...

I saw Gone Baby Gone last night. Big fan of the book and I was pulling for Affleck...

... but I was disappointed. Some very good performances -- especially Amy Ryan from the Wire -- but Affleck the writer fails Affleck the director. He didn't make any hard choices in adapting the book and a lot of what works in the novel doesn't work on screen. Too many flashbacks, too much exposition in the third act, it just doesn't click.

But I wouldn't be surprised if Affleck makes a great movie at some point.

comment #14

Edward says ...

Just watched "Hollywoodland" over the weekend, Affleck was good in a good film.

comment #15

MilkMan says ...

I think sacrificing your artistic cred to have sex with J. Lo while she was still in her prime is a fair trade. What a whiner. And Bounce is a fucking god awful movie. Don Roos writes like Darren Starr with HIV.

comment #16

echoes14 says ...

The thing that killed Lopez's acticing career was her music career. When you lip-sync the crap that she does, there's no way anyone's going to take you seriously in acting.

comment #17

Ford_Fletcher says ...

Cynical way to look at relationships, though, isn't it Ben?

Where was that same shrewdness when you starred in dogshit film after dogshit film?

comment #18

JapAdapters says ...

One good thing about Benifer is it's given a lot of people a lot of excuses for their crappy work. Without this relationship, Kevin Smith wouldn't be able to blame the reception to the putrid JERSEY GIRL on backlash.

As for Ben ... gimme a break. If he was doing work like CHANGING LANES during this phase people would have turned on him? Bullshit.

comment #19

OddDuck says ...

High hopes for Gone Baby Gone.

Afflek comes off smart funny and just overall like a really cool guy in interviews.

But man oh man was Man About Town awful. I too caught some of it on HBO last week and was SHOCKED at how bad it was. Based on what I saw, could possibly be the worst movie he's ever had a lead role in (including Gigli!)