Big bro Ben gets all the media attention, but over the course of back to back to back movies made between 2007 and 2010, Casey Affleck rose from nowhere to stake a mighty claim: He could very well end up being the best actor of his generation. Just in case you were wondering, this is a generation that ranges from the lows of Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale to the highs of Jake Gyllenhaal and Cillian Murphy.
After wandering in the wilderness of older brother Ben’s shadow with a series of less than memorable performances, Casey Affleck appeared to have discovered his muse or uncovered a genie granting wishes as he instantly proved himself one of the most gifted young actors on the screen today with three distinctly different performances in three distinctly different movies.
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” afforded Casey his breakout performance in the role of the coward who guns down the legendary Old West bandit. Affleck earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for a portrayal of tremendous depth that highlighted his ability to render a series of different emotions sometimes within the space of a single sentence. When Oscar night finally rolled around, well, to put it bluntly: Affleck was robbed! Javier Bardem was ominous in “No Country for Old Men” but that’s about all he was. Affleck, by contrast, turned in a multifaceted performance so rich in nuance that repeated viewings only serve to deepen your appreciation.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s back to back tour de force of “Donnie Darko” and “Bubble Boy” is admittedly more striking, but Affleck’s ability to go from the idolizer turned assassin Bob Ford to the young, tough and temporarily bewildered private investigator in his brother’s impressive directorial effort “Gone Baby Gone” may ultimately prove more impressive. Whereas Gyllenhaal was working at opposite ends of his range, Affleck proved he could travel a fairly long road right through his middle range. While not as immediately extraordinary as his work as Jesse James’ assassin, “Gone Baby Gone” proved he was not a one trick pony.
The performance that seriously raises the question of whether Casey Affleck could wind up being the best actor of his generation if he can avoid apathy, action hero movies and the pressures of stardom came with “The Killer Inside Me.” It is nothing less than astonishing to watch Casey use that same fragile voice that created the foundation of innocence for Bob Ford to give psychotic killer cop Lou Ford a quality of darkness every bit as ominous as Bardem’s psycho.
Let’s come back here in another 20 years or so and see if Casey Affleck was capable of capitalizing on his promising potential.
For more from Timothy Sexton, check out:
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
“Gone Baby Gone” v. Kant’s Categorical Imperative