Ben switches gears Getty Images Ben Affleck knew his career was on the line with Gone Baby Gone. The 35-year-old actor and Oscar-winning writer tried his hand at directing with his new film and realized that if he didn’t succeed, it could cost him a lot of credibility. “It was very nerve-wrack- ing, very, very intimidating, but very exciting, ultimately,” he said. After going from box-office success to a string of flops, Af- fleck had a small window to redeem himself after Holly- woodland. “I was a little scared to take that leap,” he said. “I live in a world where if I failed, the press wasn’t going to let it go by unnoticed.” Here’s more from Affleck: Paul Salfen WHAT CASEY SAYS … “The direction was bad and he [Ben] just kept saying the same thing over and over. Eventually I just got these tiny little skin-colored earplugs made so I could just sit there and nod and take them out to do the scene. It wasn’t really [bad]. I thought it might be, but we’ve done a million things together not as a director and actor, so we were perfectly comfortable with each other and communicate in our own way.” Q: Has becoming a father changed your opinions on issues like these involving children? A: My opinions about the moral dilemmas shifted a lot back and forth going through it. It was more than just about having my daughter. Being a father made my opinions change from academic ones to emotional ones. In other words, they were like intellectual exercises and then actually having a child helped me identify with people who have children whereas before it was harder for me to do that. Q: Having a family has changed your career as well, right? A: Having a family simply allowed me to mature a little bit and made me think a little more about my long-term goals. Q: Were you worried that people would see casting your brother Casey as nepotism? A: I anticipated that because he wasn’t someone who had proved himself at the time and didn’t have a track record of being the lead in a movie that had made money. It’s that classic catch-22: You can’t get the job unless you’ve proven it and you can’t prove it unless you get the job. I had this patron at Disney who bought the script and said, “I believe in you as a director,” and I have no idea why. Talk about not having a proven track record! I had a defense ready because I know people thought it would be nepotism and I knew it wasn’t, because I wouldn’t waste my one shot at directing on nepotism. That would be foolish. It’s clear now that he’s the right guy for the role. I went in and said, “This is my cast,” and they said, “Great.” I couldn’t believe it. Casey got his shot and he sure made good on it. Q: You purposely didn’t appear in this film. Will you star in the next film you direct? A: I would definitely like to be a writer or director as many times as I can, but I don’t know if I would like to act in something that I directed. Gone Baby Gone The stars: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris The plot: When a child goes missing in the Boston area, two private investigators join a pair of police detectives to solve the crime. Rating: R, 115 min. O C T O B E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 7 ● Q u i c k D F W . c o m _ 18 WEEKEND: THE BIG SCREEN BELLA Three people’s lives are changed one day in New York City. DAN IN REAL LIFE Steve Carell falls in love with his brother’s girlfriend. THE MUSIC WITHIN Dallas native Steven Sawalich’s film about a Vietnam vet who works on behalf of the disabled won the Audience Award at this year’s AFI Dallas film festival. ALSO OPENING Park, Saw IVOPENING NEXT WEEK end up at odds. R (torture/violence and language). 122 min. RESERVATION ROAD The adaptation of John Burnham Schwartz’s novel about lives turned upside down by a hit-and-run accident. Lots of sound and fury. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino. Directed by Terry George. R (violence, language, adult themes). At the Magnolia. 102 min. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS One of the greatest and most filmable stories from the Bible earns an animated treatment that hits the Biblical high points. With the voices of Christian Slater, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina and Elliott Gould. FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO Challenging the generally held assumption (even among nonbelievers) that the Good Book condemns homosexuality, this polemical documentary is less a movie than a call to arms and a plea for cultural understanding. Directed by David Karslake. Not rated (suitable for all audiences). 97 min. At the Inwood. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL A movie about a guy (Ryan Gosling) in love with a sex doll. Also starring Paul Schneider, Emily Mortimer and Patricia Clarkson. Directed by Craig Gillespie. PG-13 (sex-related content). 105 min. At the Magnolia. RENDITION The abduction by the U.S. government of an Egyptian-born American man (Omar Metwally) suspected of helping North African terrorists is obviously a mistake, and his pregnant wife (Reese Witherspoon) is left to worry. The CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) assigned to oversee the suspect’s torture and the CIA’s head of terrorism (Meryl Streep), who ordered the rendition, Directed by Bill Boyce and John Stronach. PG (mild peril). 85 min. In limited release. THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro star as the mourning widow and heroin-addicted best friend of a random murder victim (David Duchovny). Directed by Susanne Bier. R (drugs, language, adult themes). 112 min. In wide release. 30 DAYS OF NIGHT Josh Harnett stars as a Barrow, Alaska, cop out to save the town from vampires in a grim and gruesome 30-day slog. Directed by David Slade. R (strong horror violence, language). 110 min. In wide release. ALSO OPENING TOMORROW MGM Ryan Gosling’s girlfriend inLars and the Real Girlis soooo fake!
