corycouger

I knew he sucked back in 1998 when his career started but why do people pay money to watch this guy?

What does he have that people feel enticed to watch him?

You can't count the Kevin Smith films because he had supporting roles.


I have never seen Jersey Girl but I bet that sucks.




Bounce
Pearl Harbor
Phantoms
Surving Christmas
Gigli
Sum of All Fears
Forces of Nature
Armageddon

They all suck.

dick_grayson

Armageddeon was the biggest (the Oscar helped, too)

fumanstan

Supporting roles? He was the lead in Chasing Amy. He was one of the leads in Dogma. And of course the lead in Jersey Girl. I'm a fan of all three of those movies.

As far as non Kevin Smith work... I liked Armageddon. I thought Pearl Harbor was better then all the criticism surrounding it. Daredevil was a pretty solid comic book movie to me. There's just a lot of movies from him that i found entertaining. He's not the best of actors, but he certainly isn't the worst out there.

BassDude

He became a Golden Boy very quickly. "Good looks" (yes, I know chicks who think he's attractive) and "talented" (the Oscar for writing) was all Hollywood needed to pin their hopes on him as the next big thing. His films did okay, and the lil girls bought his magazines for pin ups and such.

I think people who worked with him liked him as well, so "insider word of mouth" was good as well. (Kevin Smith saying 'Affleck can play anything. Remake JAWS? yeah..Affleck plays the shark...'

I don't think he's as bad as many say, and I like his input on commentaries. I own Pearl Harbor (attack scene) Sum of All Fears (Clancy collection) and all of the Kevin Smith movies. None of the others from your list.

Sessa17

I'm going to go out on a limb & say he became a star b/c you don't control Hollywood.

Obviously there are people that like him, I can't stand the guy as an actore, but he is a good looking, mainstream actor, & actually a very nice guy, why is it so hard to understand why he is a star. I find nothing at all appealing about Tom Hanks, I can't stand the guy but I understand why people like him, is a thread really necessary for this?

Also, Afleck's career started way before 1998.

Shannon Nutt

Because he's a solid actor and a very good writer. He's just making REALLY bad choices. Cut the guy some slack - we can't all be multi-millionaires and nail Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Gardner in the same calendar year, you know.

Groucho

I understand Affleck more than Colin Ferrell. Not that Ferrell's bad, it's just he suddenly was starring in a TON of big movies without any resume to speak of.

OldBoy

"Good Will Hunting"...nuf said.

You all talked bout it cept for the OP, but no one actually mentioned the title. That is the sole reason.

End of thread!

jaeufraser

Well, Good Will Hunting plus his role in Armageddon. He had finished shooting Armageddon 6 months before GWH had even been released, so with or without that he was going to be in a summer blockbuster. So, it's a combination of GWH and Armageddon, not to mention he was the bomb in Phantoms yo. Those were his breakout hits nonetheless that made him a big star.

scott shelton

Yet you don't have a clue today on how much your threads suck, which is heartbreaking.

darqleo

A better question would be : "How come Ben and Matt haven't written another screenplay?"

Charlie Goose

Just kidding, I like Ben Affleck.

MasterCXtreme

Don't forget Dazed & Confused, what was that '94? I like the guy a lot, I enjoy almost everything he does and Good Will Hunting's a personal favorite of mine. He's a good actor, I think some people just rag on him because he seems like an easy target with some of his bombs.

badger1997

There is just something about him that I find likeable. There are certain actors like that for me where I look forward to them in a role because I like something about them. I have always thought Affleck gets too much flak. It's easy to hate a guy from afar and rip on him when you haven't seen his movies (a la the original poster with Jersey Girl). I can understand not liking the guy and thinking he can't act, but to say you can't understand how others like him or that he sucks in a movie you haven't even seen is just outlandish to me.

I love Chasing Amy, it's one of my favorite films of all time and part of that is because of Affleck. I also thought he was very good and underrated in Good Will Hunting. I know not many people saw it and not that many are probably even interested in watchin it, but I bought Bounce on a whim when it was cheap at Blockbuster and ended up liking the film a lot.

I guess the thing I like best about Affleck is he comes off as a regular guy in interviews I have seen him in. He has a sense of humor about himself. It's easy to rag on the guy for making "bad choices" but who really knows what will work and what won't at the stage and actor gets offered the role? Hell, if I'm Affleck and they offer me a Christmas movie with James Gandolfini and it has a few laughs, I jump at it. As much as I hate Pearl Harbor and Armageddon, you can't fault the guy for wanting to make money and be in a big star-studded action blockbuster, I would have taken those roles too.

I hope the chips start falling better for him because I want to see him keep acting and getting decent roles. I feel he's let the fame go to his head a bit kind of like Nic Cage did after his Oscar win. It's all right to do a big-budget action film once in a while, but who wants to be a movie star instead of an actor? If you do it right, like Cage seems to have realized over time, you can be both.

Rivero

Personally I think think Affleck sucks ass as an actor(just watching him "cry" in Jersey Girl made that movie worth it it was so laughably bad, even moreso than the obvious rug he wears on his head) but it's very easy to see how he became a star: he's a good-looking white guy who appeals to chicks with his everyguy down-home earnestness and was in a gigantic smash Good Will Hunting as well as the fan-favorite Chasing Amy.

Matt Damon is a better actor, not great but picks better films and is more versatile(ie. The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gerry). As to why these two haven't written another script, maybe they're having trouble finding another ghostwriter to punch up their next screenplay and take all the credit from.

Cedrock

he actually started acting on a series titled "voyage of the mimi" if i remember , when i was in science in middle school like 6,7 yrs ago we had to watch some old tv series about whales titled Voy. of the mimi and he was main star he was like 12 in it, i dunno how he got big from that though. I liked the movie paycheck which alot of people rag on i think hes an ok actor, but people started to hate him as soon as he went out with J-Lo.

Shap

I had to watch that too. To this day I still get that stupid theme song stuck in my head at least once a month.

The Cow

Me007gold

because the only thing matt damon can say, is Matt Damon!

GuessWho

He was also in School Ties(which also had Matt Damon)

areacode212

I actually thought he was good back when I saw Chasing Amy for the first time. When I watch it again nowadays, I think he's, well, less good, but I still kinda like him, or at least, his public persona. When you read his interviews, or see/hear him on the View Askew DVD extras (commentaries, etc.), he's always really funny and self-deprecating. That's why I find it hard to hate on Affleck--because he doesn't take himself too seriously, and he seems to realize what people think of him (like during the Bennifer era).

I think his most entertaining roles are the ones where he gets to play a cretinous douchebag, as in Dazed and Confused & Mallrats. He was miscast as Daredevil, and every other time he got to play an action hero.

Troy Stiffler

Matt Damon.

I don't think that he ruins potentially good movies. He just accidently gets in the middle of them.

souvenir

Changing Lanes is another pretty good film he was in that nobody has mentioned yet.

Verbal Gorilla

IMO, his path to stardom was one of the most obvious in Hollywood history. Two extremely nice, young guys pen a script (and star in) a movie that wins them an Oscar. Every newspaper/TV show/tabloid magazine ran with the story. Combine that with his "good enough" good looks and acting ability. 'Nuff said. Why is he still an "A" lister seems to be the better question...but then again, that is pretty obvious too when you think of all his A-list reltionships (Damon, Smith, and the tabloid mega-hit, J-lo).

glassdragon

You know i'm starting to understand the Sheer hate for Halle Berry thread that went on with people hating for no reason (I still think she was wrong to ask to be written in a bigger part for X3) ... anyways, I don't know what all the affleck bashing is. I personally think he's a good actor, not the best but he's still a lot better than alot of other actors getting as much attention out there.