Captain Genuine: Ben Affleck's candid nature about his demons makes him easy to root for
Oh, and he's very talented and versatile too.
Actors who seem genuine are easy to root for. They transcend the natural appeal from their movie stardom over into real life, and it’s for the simple fact that they come off as a real person instead of a Hollywood model.
Ben Affleck fits the bill better than most. The rise, fall, and rise of his cinema trek has been recorded and recited for years: the youngest person to win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar with his best friend Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting to a series of role choices and publicity-poisoned relationships, all the while battling alcoholism in the public eye. Then, he co-wrote and directed his brother Casey in a Dennis Lehane adaptation called Gone Baby Gone, and things changed.
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His next directorial feature, The Town, became a cops and robbers classic by putting the onus of the story on the thieves instead of the badges. In a matter of two years, Affleck became the new auteur of modern crime films.
But it’s not just the fact that he became a triple threat in 2007, something that catapulted him to being the director of a Best Picture winner in Argo. It’s the fact that he’s never hid or deflected the bad things about him and his past, or the things he can’t change.
Affleck has always given a great interview, and that’s not just due to the fact he says all the right things about his costars or family; it’s that none of it feels forced or coerced. These conversations are the most revealing and intimate sight we get of the make believe artists. Each time shows just a guy who came from a rough family history talking openly about addiction and alcoholism, a pair of things still trapped in a stigma. It’s not a series of manufactured retorts or gestures, ones designed to crank up the empathy machine; instead a guy who no longer gives a shit--or maybe never did.
In an interview this week with The Hollywood Reporter, edgy comments about not wanting to work in James Gunn’s DC Studio revamp (he’s burnt out on superhero world-building) and how playing golf is similar to crystal meth (“better teeth,” same addiction) dominated the link-snatching, clickbait headlines. But the better parts were him explaining the reason for a new production company (started with Damon) that gets the entire crew on a movie well paid instead of just the poster faces, or how he actually got Michael Jordan to give him a nod of approval for a story about his famous shoe.
Affleck also doted often on his lovely wife, Jennifer Lopez, explaining how she gave him some much needed advice before the interview about being himself and showing off that genuine side of his personality.
Side note: We’d be lost without women. They build up, drive us nuts, and are life-creating badasses who operate efficiently with a world of self-doubt trying to drown them. Respect. Also, I have a J. Lo crush, so I would like her to give me some advice before my next interview.
It’s that effortlessly candid nature that makes it easy to root for a guy with real life problems. In a way, Affleck’s journey is similar to a great movie, where the hero experiences rapid success before getting knocked down repeatedly by his own demons and misfortune. Being drawn to that gritty luxury (he’s still a multi millionaire with Pacific Palisades complaints) is a constant allure, because it pulls him closer to our world of ups and downs.
While everybody asshat with a camera wants to capture his everyday life insecurities and mishaps, I get a kick out of them. There’s not a single human alive-even Vin Diesel’s stunt double, Dominic Toretto-who could have made it out of that spot. Who else wears adulting’s weight on their face better than Affleck in one of those Dunkin-drinking, cigarette-sucking pics? It’s a glimpse, not embarrassing. Soak it up instead of tearing it down for clicks and likes.
Stick an unseen camera in most people’s faces, and you’d have an unfinanced Blair Witch Project spin-off on your hands. Affleck’s troubles are our troubles in these moments. I look like Crispin Glover’s awful aunt after I clean my son’s room. In past years when mowing my lawn, I looked like the bastard child of Joe Rogan. This isn’t news, people. Get a hobby that doesn’t require a doctorate in envious drama.
Life can feel like a series of fast breaks and false starts, so seeing a celebrity battle the ground zero of all addictions in alcoholism and come out of it caring for his coworkers and loving his wife more than anything is a satisfying story line to ride on. The movies are much easier to appreciate when the leader isn’t a shithead.
The easy charm of Affleck’s latest directorial effort-Air, the story of how Nike made a wonder sneaker legendary by working with a certain basketball player-is fueled by the adoration and belief in its co-star and director. Right when I saw he was in it and behind the camera, the interest level went through the roof. The stellar cast and true story are extra incentives.
Affleck’s rugged “I am who I am” mentality flows right through his movie choices and aspirations, which include getting the underrated minds on a set paid. According to the T.H.R interview, Artists Equity aims to help a cinematographer or production designer on Air receive as much “backend” love as the stars of the picture. If the D.P. can save Affleck money on the production with his or her finesse and skill, they should be rewarded when a studio purchases the movie for big bucks. Affleck and Damon are driving that bus.
How can you not love that? How can one not root for that?
It would have been easy for him to hide in a cool corner for years high above judgement, and keep starring in and making movies his way and reward just himself. That’s how studios would generally like it. Instead, Affleck wants to change the game, dunking over the hierarchy that turns regular folks off.
I’ll be in his corner until the end. In a town overrun by tomfoolery and people who don’t give a shit, it’s the genuine drive shown by Affleck that should stand out. He continues to fight, so I’ll continue to watch.
Thanks for reading.
Photo Credit: Richard Foreman/Warner Brothers Entertainment
Ramble On with Buffa is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.