When Gone Baby Gone was first announced and Ben Affleck's name was attached as director most people scoffed and laughed a little bit to themselves. The guy who starred in Jersey Girl was going to direct a gritty drama? Ya right, said just about everybody. Of course, people were proven wrong when Gone Baby Gone turned out to be an incredibly strong film. Affleck followed up with The Town which proved to be just as good and more of a crowd pleaser. Now that he's walked away with a Best Picture Oscar for his newest directorial effort, Argo, we thought we'd take a look not at the man's directing career, but his acting one. See, before his new career phase, Affleck's films were haunted by his headlines in celebrity gossip magazines and the success of his best friend, Matt Damon. His films were mostly derided along with his performances, but were they really that bad? I say not. I say some got a bad rap and, with Affleck's new-found respect at this stage in his career, I say we give five of them another look.
5. Daredevil
Daredevil is one of a handful of superhero films that simply did not get a fair shake. Though the film managed to score at the box office with over $170 million worldwide, it was panned by critics only scoring 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. Affleck's performance, along with his chemistry with real wife Jennifer Garner, were particularly critiqued. Even Affleck has stated he will never do a superhero movie again and laughs when the film is brought up. However, Daredevil was a strong superhero film. It contained great supporting performances by the late and great Michael Clarke Duncan and Colin Farrell. Hell, even Kevin Smith got a cameo. Affleck was also surprisingly well cast. Though the film did not reach the level of greatness that other superhero movies have, it was a very entertaining film and the later released director's cut showed that there was more meat to the film than originally thought. So, eventually the film got the respect it deserved, but many still consider it to be one of the more embarrassing moments in the Oscar winner's career. I challenge those people to give it a second look. The prequel, however, I would try to avoid if I were you.