(The full text has a lot of "Road Return" spoilers)
In March, Ben Affleck's new film "Road to Return" was released in North America, and most of the film critics gave it a fair review. The film is directed by Gavin O'Connor, the director of "Warriors" and "Accounting Assassin". Daben played a once-famous basketball player in the film. He was in a middle-aged life due to alcoholism and lived a decadent life. But by chance, he was invited back to his alma mater to coach the basketball team, so he decided to change his mind and embark on the "road of return."
The media mainly praised Daben's performance for capturing the versatility of this character and showing the fragile side of this character to the audience.
In the process of watching "Road to Return", I believe that I was not the only one who had the same sense of sight of "Manchester by the Sea"-after watching it, I did find that some film critics also expressed the same sigh.
Similar to his brother Cassie Affleck’s masterpiece "Manchester by the Sea", this film is also based on "salvation" as the motif, retracing the mindset of the protagonist who has been trapped in life, and exploring how they become "them" For internal and external reasons, look for a way to "self-save".
Even the character settings are the same in many ways: the life order that was completely disrupted after the death of the child, the love and hate entanglement with the ex-wife, the boring time in the bar after working, from the "young self" (in "Hyman" is a nephew, Seeing new hope in "Return" is a student player)...
But in the face of the question of "reconciliation with the past," the Affleck brothers gave a different answer in the movie. In "Manchester by the Sea", Cassie replied solemnly with tears: "I can not beat it!" As the highlight of the movie, he chose to continue to coexist with the painful past.
And the former star player "Jack" portrayed by Ben Affleck in "The Road to Return" is more soaked in his personal touch. As many film critics have said, "The alcoholic basketball coach played by Affleck is probably his most personal performance on the screen."
"The most dramatic star in contemporary Hollywood's private life has finally returned." Film critics unanimously compared Affleck's real life with this film. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Affleck was one of the most dazzling new stars, and after winning the Oscar for Best Picture with his self-directed and self-acting work "Escape from Tehran", how many "become the next" A Clint Eastwood" expectation.
He has never been so bad on the screen, swollen, greasy, and drunk. He is no longer the charming Bruce Wayne, and the comment that "has become almost unrecognizable" has repeatedly appeared, but people are also affirming that he has never been so real.
"People with compulsive behavior-I am one of them. They are always upset, and then try to make this anxiety go away in various ways-using binge eating, sexy, gambling, shopping or any other way to make themselves feel better .But it will eventually make your life worse. Then you will do something more radical to eliminate this discomfort, and then the real pain begins. This forms a vicious circle that cannot be broken. At least It happened to me." Affleck admitted frankly in an interview that he has been taking antidepressants for more than 20 years.
"I'm very depressed when down," he said. "I take antidepressants. They are very helpful to me. I have been taking all kinds of drugs since I was 26. I have changed many kinds, tried this and tried that. Sometimes they don't Tell you some terrible side effects, and then you look back and find out,'Why did I gain 60 pounds?"
That was when he got the first Oscar statuette. As his friend Matt Damon, who shared the same Oscar trophy with him, said, when you suddenly achieve great success in your youth, your whole world will change. No one can be prepared for this kind of thing. While Affleck is gaining honor, he is also paying the price for his youthful fame.
There is another reason for his repeated withdrawal from alcoholism, which comes from family inheritance. His father really got rid of his alcohol addiction when he was 19 years old, and the older he was, the more he could realize that his father had done his best to stop drinking. My grandmother committed suicide in a motel at the age of 46. My uncle committed suicide with a shotgun. My aunt was addicted to drugs.
All kinds of experiences have made Affleck's understanding of the character "Jack" more profound, and "Jack" has a lot of his own shadow. This basketball genius actually lived in the shadow of his father since he was a child, and his father would value him only by playing basketball to win trophies. When he received full scholarships from many good universities because of his excellent basketball performance in high school, he chose to give up all, just to fight his father. The young man’s rebellion was brought to the extreme and he used all his future to express his right. Father's dissatisfaction.
However, Jack's life was still promising at that time. He met a wife who loved him and a lovely son. But fate gave him another blow. His son died of a terminal illness. He and his wife could not face all this and chose to divorce.
"I can talk about... tumors in his brain and spine... 30 times giving up treatment... He screams when he has spasms. No one wants to hear that sound."
The scene that Jack confided to the psychiatrist was a small climax in the second half of the film. Affleck used a depressed tone to speak as calmly as possible about his biggest heart demon, who was completely crushed by the death of his son. He was often criticized for being "facially paralyzed", and his face was full of sadness at this moment, and tears fell involuntarily, which also touched me in front of the screen.
Director Gavin O'Connor said: "I think Ben, in an artistic way, in a profoundly human way, hopes to use this role to face his own problems and heal them. The shooting is completed in a certain climax. Later, Ben'completely collapsed' on the set. This is like an open gate, which is surprising and shocking. I think this is a very personal moment for him in the movie, and I think that is the real him. "
And I took this movie partly because of my own children. Affleck said in the interview: "I don't want this kind of alcoholism to happen to me again, mainly for my children, but also because this situation has brought them pain. I am willing to do everything to change this situation. "But I can't change the past. I can start today. I can make sure that I am fine today. This is what I can do. I did a good job today."
The director said that after reading the script, Affleck resonated deeply and wanted to start filming immediately. But when the film was still in the preparation stage, he finally decided to enter the withdrawal center for treatment due to alcoholism. At that time, the crew was very hesitant, and the investors and film crew thought it would not be possible.
Just then the director received a call from Jennifer Garner, Affleck's ex-wife and the children's mother. Garner told the director that he brought basketball with him when he went to the withdrawal center for treatment. He really wanted to make this movie. She begged the film crew not to suspend the project.
After several turbulent years, the 47-year-old Affleck really faced his own plight, trying to rediscover his life and re-plan his career. Just like the experience of the hero "Jack" in the film, this is a difficult road to recovery.
Affleck kept opening himself up, analyzing himself.
"For me, it is unhealthy to indulge in failure, relapse, and self-blame. I did make mistakes and did something that I regret. But I must cheer up, learn from it, and learn from it. More, work hard to move forward."
"Why did you choose to make a movie about alcoholics? For me, the benefits of doing so far outweigh the risks. It can heal me."
As the Associated Press said in an interview with him, "The fight against alcoholism will never end, but they will gradually become easier to overcome. At least for now, Affleck feels he has grown from it. He has become more Humble, more sincere, and more at ease."
No three-pointer can repair the relationship between Jack and his separated wife, and no defensive rebound can repair the wound in his heart. Whether it is Jack or Ben Affleck himself, they are burdened with a heavy and complicated past. In the movie, he also gave a good answer to what he wanted.
"We can't change the past, Jack, all we can do is look forward."
At the end of the movie, Jack failed to participate in the important game of the team he directed. He was playing basketball alone on the beach court, and at this moment, the off-picture sound rang out:
"Although he failed to appear on the coaching bench, you can imagine that he must be very proud to see the boys playing so well. I can still remember Jack when he played. His tenacity, enthusiasm, and victory have already These children have been changed subtly, and these qualities have created such a winner."
He finally recovered his original intention, even though he had gone through a long, long, and long detour.
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