5. Ben Affleck The Town (2010)
After the whole Affleck/J-Lo saga, I, as many of you out there probably did, wrote Affleck off as spent. After all, did you see Gigli? If you have, tell me you didnt consider it career suicide for Affleck. And even before that, Afflecks career was in decline with shudder-inducing turns in Pearl Harbour, The Third Wheel, Daredevil and Paycheck. Back in those days, as a performer, Affleck was easy to dislike. Its not that he was ever outright terrible its just that he seemed to be making too many bad choices, and each one seemed to be just one more nail in the career-coffin. Fast forward to 2007, and Affleck returned to respectable cinema with his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, which was pretty much universally critically acclaimed (but not without its flaws; then again, what movie is?). Thats why I was massively interested to see what he did with his performance while directing himself in 2010s The Town. As an old Affleck fan (thanks to having a hand in why Good Will Hunting was so good), I was curious. It could have gone either way. But it went this way: Affleck gives a powerhouse performance both behind and in front of the camera. As a performer he manages to portray the romantic criminal as well Ive ever seen it done and while the film itself isnt exactly far off the beaten track, its perhaps a testament to Afflecks prowess in every role he filled here (he wrote it too, the bloody talented b*stard) that it somehow
feels original, even though it clearly isnt. Its great to see Affleck shirking then washed-up A-lister label hes been lumbered with all these years, and finally come back at us with something of artistic merit.