Shooting the shooting in The TownKurt here from Your Movie Buddy.
Ben Affleck may have been just fine in The Company Men (a film that eluded me, seeing as it lives in that imaginary void between 2010 and 2011), but with the success of The Town, the focus has shifted almost entirely from Ben Affleck, the actor, to Ben Affleck, the filmmaker. That is, outside of the Academy, of course.
Like his 2007 debut, Gone Baby Gone, Affleck's sophomore effort garnered only a supporting acting nod from Oscar. The critical community, however, along with the moviegoing public, wrapped their loving arms around The Town, and now all eyes are on what this tabloid-target-turned-auteur will do next. Will he break out of Beantown? Direct a film starring old bestie Matt Damon? Try his hand at comedy?
While I'm all for creative flexibility, I'd personally love to see Affleck stick with his genre of choice. Turns out he's bloody good at helming crime films. Admittedly, I wasn't really on board with the acclaim for Gone Baby Gone (I'm not really keen on Mystic River retreads that are in fact two movies in one), but I was stunned by what he did with The Town. I kept waiting for that movie to disappoint, and it never came close. In fact, the superbly-choreographed urban action tricked me into thinking I was watching Michael Mann's latest, while the overall lack of tonal compromise put me right into a Martin Scorsese film. At many points, I had to step back for a mental pause: all this from Fred F***ing O'Bannion? From Daredevil? It still blows my mind.
And so, I'm happy to report what outlets like EW already have – that Affleck, apparently, will indeed keep playing to his strengths. The multi-hyphenate is now in talks to direct the George Clooney- and Grant Heslov-produced Argo, a political thriller about a CIA rescue mission in Tehran circa 1979. Not exactly gritty neighborhood violence, no, but in the same general ballpark, with bank heists upgraded to international espionage.
And on that note, word is that Argo features an elaborate, CIA-devised scheme involving disguises. Might we be seeing those creepy nun masks again? And, more importantly, might Oscar finally warm up to this other golden boy?
For the comments: Which project/genre would you like to see Affleck tackle?