Toward a Universal Theory of Ben Affleck

https://theringer.com/toward-a-universal-theory-of-ben-affleck-da1522b6f68e#.jrn6m25k7

Tracing the long, fascinating, entirely unpredictable career of the on-again, off-again megastar.

Consider Ben Affleck: the cerebral lug, the regally square-jawed scoundrel, the thinking man’s matinee idol, the matinee idol’s thinking man. He has a quarter century’s worth of experience in the Hollywood muck now, a career rife with both Oscar glory and ignominious bombs, glossy triumph and tabloid disgrace. It’s as convoluted and fascinating a collection of arcs as you could ask for in an A-lister. His 2016 campaign alone stretches from the blockbuster debacles Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad to the shrewdly perplexing B-movie thriller The Accountant to the imminent prestige-play gangster epic Live by Night, which he also directed.

Few careers are as unpredictable and nonetheless durable, as rife with distinct phases and moods and backlashes to backlashes. As Live by Night plants flags in a few theaters now and prepares to invade the rest of the country in January, let’s try to make sense of where we’ve been, and where we’re going, and why we’ve been willing to follow him anywhere. The ride hasn’t always been fun, but it has never for one second been boring. Nor has it ever stopped. Here, now, is a somewhat thorough (and usually gentle) phase-by-phase breakdown.