My copy of the 2012 Ben Affleck movie Argo lay around unwatched for a long time. A few nights ago, I fought my way in through the shrink-wrap and took a look. It revealed Affleck to be a terrific director as well as a fine actor.
That latter quality was probably the reason I had left the shrink-wrap intact for so long. In Pearl Harbor, Affleck had overcome the handicap of his absurd good looks and done a creditable job of bringing to life his role as a brave young pilot, instead of doing what the script deserved and setting fire to it before placing himself under citizen’s arrest for having signed the contract in the first place.
The movie was such a dog’s dinner that I couldn’t stop blaming Affleck for being in it. Though he had acted superbly as a has-been B-movie superhero in Hollywoodland, I still had to be persuaded at gunpoint to watch Gone Baby Gone, which proved that he had immense talent as a director. But, for me, Affleck was still the too-handsome actor who had been in that awful movie where a thousand Japanese aircraft tried to destroy Kate Beckinsale’s career. The only reason I finally took a look at Argo was that I was planning to write an article about Alan Arkin.
Take a look at Arkin in Argo (so my article might start), and you’ll see what a great screen actor can do. You will also see (so my article might go on) why a great screen actor is not necessarily a bankable film star. Robert Redford at his peak was more bankable than Lassie, but he could never act like Arkin. He didn’t have to. All he had to do was stand there being gorgeous. He’s still doing it, looking a bit crinkled at the edges.
In the 1990 movie Havana, you can see Arkin and Redford on screen together. Arkin convinces you he is a thoughtful expatriate whose complex soul has been eaten away by corruption, and Redford convinces you that he has a profile on each side of his face.
Occasionally, Redford got so bored by his own beauty that he would go off and direct something. Affleck probably has the same motivation, but he has a lot more directorial flair.
You can already see what this critical article of mine is up to. I might not get the chance to write it, but the theme is set to go. The theme is that it takes a lot of luck to defy expectations. Right now, I’ve got two new poetry books out and I should count my blessings if a camera crew turns up at my door. They might have thought I was just a pretty face and stayed away.
