How did Ben Affleck manage his comeback

There's also Gone Baby Gone--not a box office hit by any means, but it (like The Town and Argo) won high critical acclaim. When you direct 3 films in a row that all get over 90% on rottentomatoes, and the latter two are box office hits, of course it's going to revitalize your career.

I think his comeback was based on the fact that he's far better behind the camera than in front of it (not that he's a bad actor; just not as good as he is at directing), and it was a smart choice on his part to direct & produce some really high-quality films.

good point though mostly his directed films def boosted his leading man career which had been sagging for years.

Best comeback of all time is RDJ. A box office poison becomes the highest paid actor and most recognisable movie star on the planet in less than a decade by playing just one character, Iron Man.

To be fair Sherlock Holmes helped in the early stages.

It is a lot built by the good will he gain from is Gone baby girl success and other directional effort.

I guess he achieved to be able to do those because he had powerful friend that he made a lot of money for like Weinstein.

(Handsome)White Male Privilege.

If Affleck had been an actress or POC with the chances he'd been given, and had flunked, prior to GONE BABY GONE plus being seen as he was in the mid noughties as a public joke there is no way he'd have been able to direct a studio picture irrespective of how low budget it was.

I won't downplay his talents as a director but the fact that, on the back of it, he's been positioned in the front rank of male stars again despite having never really proven he belonged there in the first place is baffling.

He's still no box office draw on any significant level.

I don't buy that argument at all. He was an oscar winning writer who went on to direct a Best Picture, which he also starred in and went on to gross over $200 million on a $40 million budget. Until Argo came out he was doing solid work in solid low-budget films. No privilege there, just good decisions, hard work and quite a lot of talent, and ultimately a hugely successful pay-off.

I just can't help but cynically feel that Affleck from the start of his career with it's many obstacles, some down to him, would've been given the opportunities he received if he wasn't a handsome white male. I'm not saying he isn't a talented writer or director...just that from the beginning, with the issues being dredged up about Hollywood's diversity issues behind, as well as in front of the camera, I sometimes ponder if he'd been pushed to the extent that he has if he had different colour skin or was female.

I'm not the only one whose held this opinion of him.