Posted by BethAB at dixon.ge.com on August 16, 2000 at 15:09:01:
In Reply to: Affleck is doing Pearl Harbor for free? R U joking posted by Isis on August 16, 2000 at 14:18:46:
: Why in the world would anyone work for free? Where did you get this information?
From the horse's mouth...check out Affleck.com. Basically almost everyone involved (actors and producers and director) are waiving fees becuase as Affleck said they want every penny possible to go "up on the screen".
: And telling someone that their opinion of someone's acting range is "wrong" is silly. At least give us something more to go on, a proper argument to the contrary. Affleck has successfully (IMO) played bad boys, good boys, jerky jocks, sensitive artists, and one tormented ex-angel. Honestly, I haven't yet seen him do the sophisticated leading man-of-the-world thing, and that's what the character of Jack Ryan calls for. More than charm, he needs to have a certain suavity and world-weariness that I'm not sure ANY actor of Ben's age could pull off. Should they choose to do a prequel, Mr. Affleck is certainly one of the finest young actors around and would probably have the willingness and the balls to throw himself into a major motion picture that already carries all these expectations.
Granted, my emotions got the better of me when I said you were wrong about his range, I appologise. However I think he's capeable of anything as an actor. I formed this opinion in one second while watching Good Will Hunting (prior to which I still thought he was a damn fine actor). He walks to the door and knocks and Matt's not there. The look on his face conveyed more than any other moment of film or theater I have ever seen. I I think that despite his age he could definitely convey the worldliness needed for the character. The problem is more superfcial...the character is much okder than Ben, the character's wife is much older and it woudln't fit. There would have to be at least one serious change in the rest of the cast to accomodate such a young actor. However, just on his skills as an actor, on wether or not he could be believable (all other things being equal) I think he could definitely pull it off, I think he could pull anything off.
: As for success, listen, I don't begrudge Affleck or any other successful entertainer a damn thing. If their business is entertainment, they're certainly entitled to make whatever choices they like in order to appeal to mass audiences. However, I will simply point out that entertainment and art may overlap but are not synonymous, and that if one chooses entertainment rather than art as one's career that one should not expect to receive the (perhaps undeserved) respect that an artist does.
: That is not to say that big-budget flicks can't be both visually gorgeous and emotionally meaningful, but I'm certainly not going to keep my mouth shut when a person whom I see as a talented artist makes choices that are, shall we say, less than worthy of them -- *cough, cough* Reindeer Games, ahem, *cough*, I seem to have something stuck in my throat, excuse me, ech, Forces of Nature, *cough cough*, it's loosening up now, aaaahhh, ARMAGEDDON! *thundering noise as Isis hucks up a lung*.
Well now...that's a little stong. I will say I may be with you on the Reindeer Games issue, but Forces of Nature wasn't bad, it was even quite good for what it was, and Armageddon is a work of art as are most Bruckhiemer films. I don't how much of this can be attributed to the producing, but there has to be a reason they give the best picture oscar to the producer...anyhow his films are tight (i.e. fast paced), they never let you get bored, there's tons of character development with out tons of dialoge (which is probably more due to the acotrs skill, but then we have to give him casting props), Of course he goes all out on the effects and the results are usually beautifull, and his movies have a little of everything (Comedy, Drama, Action, Romance, etc.) making the appeal even broader...I could go on about Jerry Bruckheimer, but this is not the time or place as I am here like everyone else as a fan of View Askew and it's participants, including Affleck and Lee and Kevin and all those involved in making the excellentt films that make up the View Askewniverse.
-Beth