Ben Affleck’s long-awaited follow-up toThe Accountantis set for an April 25 release date and fans have every reason to be excited about it. The original film was a box office hit, making $155 million globally, and given how well sequels have been doing lately, we can expect the new movie to make more money. However, Affleck and his team will need to convince critics this time, since the first movie was met with a mixed reception.
The Accountant 2is a great move for Affleck as it helps preserve his status as one of Hollywood’s A-listers. Over the years, the actor has starred in numerous blockbusters, most of which have been successful. FromArmageddontoArgo, his hits are well known. However, he has been in a few other movies that either didn’t do so well despite having decent plots or only had the actor serving in a minor capacity.
10‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (1992)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The story of Buffy started with a feature film. InBuffy the Vampire Slayer, the high-schooler, Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson), lives like any other teenager, hoping to gain entry into a prestigious college one day. Her life changes whenshe is informed that her destiny is to fight vampires.
Blink and You’ll Miss Him
Fran Rubel Kuzul’s and Joss Whedon’s intelligent script makeBuffy the Vampire Slayerone ofthe best vampire movies of the ‘90s. Unfortunately, Affleck didn’t have a big part to play in it. The actoronly has a minor role as an unnamed basketball player, an understandable development since he wasn’t a household name in the early ‘90s. Luckily for him, success would come a few years later courtesy ofGood Will Hunting.
9‘Changing Lanes’ (2002)
Changing Lanes
Ben Affleck stars inChanging Lanesas Gavin, a successful Wall Street lawyer whoends up having one of his worst days when he crashes into the car of Doyle (Samuel L. Jackson), an alcoholic insurance salesman. The two spend the rest of the day trying to get at each other, and things soon get out of hand.
One of Affleck and Jackson’s Finest Performances
The cars inChanging Lanesmight fail to cover much ground, but the movie does.Alcoholism, divorce, credit, and corporate malpractice as some of the major issuesthe film touches on amidst the chaos. The film should have won major awards and left a lasting legacy, but it was quickly forgotten,partly becauseSpider-Manpremiered around the same time.
8‘Clerks II’ (2006)
Clerks IIpicks up where the ‘90s movie left off, following a group of slackers who must learn to grow up and expand their thinking beyond merriment since they are no longer in their ‘20s. After losing their jobs because of a disaster at their convenience store,they find new employment at Mooby’s, a fast-food empire.
A Memorable Group Comedy
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival,Clerks IIis relatable, featuring characters doing silly everyday things. There’s plenty of graphic humor, so don’t watch it with the holier-than-thou. Those who watched the film when it came out might have forgotten thatAffleck was present, playing Mooby’s customer. He doesn’t stick around for long, but he makes an impact. Watch out for the argument scene.
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7‘Live by Night’ (2016)
Live by Night
ForLive by Night, Ben Affleck adapted Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name and directed the novel himself. The film follows Joe Coughlin (Affleck), an Irish-American World War I veteran andson of a Boston police captain who chooses a different path from daddy and becomes a bootlegger in the Roaring 20s.Things get heated when he falls for the moll of a notorious mob boss.
There Are Better Prohibition Era Movies
Live by Nightis style over substance, which is surprising for an actor-director like Affleck. The costumes look great, and so do the locations, but the film offers nothing new, hence it fails to match the quality of some of thepopular mob movies. On top of that, it made a huge loss at the box office, destroying all chances of a sequel.
6‘Surviving Christmas’ (2004)
Surviving Christmas
At the height ofThe Sopranos’ popularity, James Gandolfini starred in a Christmas movie with Ben Affleck and it was no good.Surviving Christmasconcerns Drew (Affleck),a wealthy but lonely ad executive who decides to pay the family of Tom (Gandolfini) to spend Christmas with him.Predictably, chaos ensues.
Tony Soprano vs Batman
Gandolfini is great here, since he maintains the aggressive approach he often employed inThe Sopranos.Regrettably,Affleck never matches his energy.Consequently,he received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor.The film also received a Worst Picture nomination but lost toCatwoman. Still, spare some time for it since it perfectly falls under theso-bad-its-good category.
5‘Runner Runner’ (2013)
Runner Runner
Justin Timberlake got a string of roles in the late 2000s and early 2010s but most of them have been forgotten. RememberRunner Runner? Presumably not. The singer playsa Princeton graduate student who confronts a gambling tycoon (Affleck) after losing his tuition money to a poker scam. The tycoon takes him under his wing, with disastrous consequences.
Could Have Been Better
The “bad guy” tag just doesn’t look good on Affleck. Every movie where he plays an evil person was critically panned and so wasRunner Runner. The film’s plot is decent enough, and the never-ending sense of tension prevents the viewer from ‘running running’ away, but both lead actors never really seem into it. Worse still, the film premiered around the same time asGravity.
4‘Glory Daze’ (1995)
Glory Daze
Glory Dazeconcerns five college housemates whoare worried, rather than thrilled, about the fact that graduation is fast approaching.Realizing they’ll miss their college days, they try to make the most out of the time that’s left.
Before the Glory Days
The film only made $15,000 at the box office and remains obscure to date. It isn’t perfect. It’s decent. It thrives from the usual college comedy tropes, making it an ideal watch when bored. Apart from Affleck, the comedyhas Matthew McConaughey, Brendan Fraser, and Matt Damon in minor roles, so the performances remain consistently decent. Watch it for laughs, and the amazing punk rock soundtrack.
3‘Extract’ (2009)
Extractfollows Joel Reynolds (Jason Bateman), the overwhelmed owner of an extract manufacturing company, who deals with one crisis after another. To make matters worse, his marriage is failing. Well, things get complicated whenhis best friend Dean (Ben Affleck) encourages him to test his wife’s faithfulness.
Is Ben Affleck Funny?
Most ofBen Affleck’s best filmsaren’t comedies. He tends to thrive more when he is serious. Affleck arguably cannot make people laugh in real-time either, as proved inThe Roast of Tom Brady.Well,Extractcould have easily impressed if Bateman was aided by an actor like Steve Carell or Seth Rogen. Regrettably, that didn’t happen so the movie grossed only $8 million in an era when comedies were thriving.
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2‘Jersey Girl’ (2004)
Jersey Girl
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were very keen on working together during their first stint as lovers in the early 2000s. They first madeGigli,followed byJersey Girl,both of which flopped at the box office. The latter is abouta widowed man who must learn to take care of his daughter after her mother’s death.
Affleck as a Fun Dad
The New York Timesreported that Jennifer Lopez’s screen time was reduced due to fears that the film would flop as badly asGigli. Well, that didn’t help, butJersey Girlis indeed the better of the two, perfectly capturing both the joys and the struggles of male single parenthood. Give it a chance if you can.
1‘The Third Wheel’ (2002)
The Third Wheel
The Third Wheelconcerns shy office worker Stanley (Luke Wilson) who finallylands a date with his longtime crush only for them to accidentally hit a man with their car.Avoiding the scenario ofI Know What You Did Last Summer, theydecide to help the victim, who ends up disrupting their night in the most hilarious ways. Affleck also stars as Stanley’s buddy.
Failed to Impress in a Competitive Rom-Com Landscape
Rare for a Ben Affleck film,The Third Wheelwent straight to DVD. And by failing to offer something different from the otherearly 2000s rom-coms, it didn’t thrive in the home market. The jokes aren’t strong either. Even so, it’s worth viewing for the talents of Luke Wilson and Denise Richards. Additionally, the main characters are likable, so you are unlikely to yawn.
