It’s an unfortunate thing that when most of us think of Ben Affleck we instantly associate failures like Gigli or Pearl Harbor, or Forces of Nature. Yes, these movies were crap, and Affleck was craptacular in them. However, I think most people also fail to give credit where credit is sometimes due.
As bad as Affleck has been in some films, he was fantastic in some others. He’s often overlooked for his performance in Good Will Hunting, he was wonderful in Chasing Amy, Changing Lanes is on my top 10 underrated movies of all time list, and while the movie didn’t really work all that well Affleck did a really respectable job as Jack Ryan in Sum of All Fears.
Personally, I’m glad he’s going to be back as Ryan. I thought he pulled it off well and did actually remind me of Harrison Ford (back when he could act) in the role. I’m not suggesting that Affleck is one of the great actors of our time, but the man, from time to time, can truly give a great performance and deliver some solid characters on screen. That is‚Ķ when he’s not stinking the joint out.
The following is from The MovieHole:
There’s been a lot of speculation as to whether Ben Affleck has been dropped from Paramount’s Jack Ryan series – he made his debut as the character in “The Sum of All Fears” – because of his bad box-office run of late. Not true, says Affleck, whilst talking to WhatDVD Mag.
“I’m still Jack Ryan, I know that”, says Affleck. “I don’t know if my career’s ruined. You’re going to have to tell me. I still have offers to do things. One of the things in the business is that people are competitive with you and it’s just a tough business of long knives. But ultimately it comes down to the movies and the movies I like”. The next Jack Ryan film is “Red Rabbit”, based again on the book by Tom Clancy, and Affeck thinks it’s a worthwhile gig. “I think it works as a movie and I think it should work commercially.
