Intriguing Mercy ultimately falters Smacking of Steven Spielberg’s overlooked masterpiece Minority Report, Timur Bekmambetov’s Mercy also features a law enforcement officer trapped in a legal system he helped create, trying desperately to prove his innocence. At the heart of the Tom Cruise feature were questions of free will and predetermination. Here, the script from writer […]
Ben Affleck
Questions of identity propel Gone Girl
Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne and Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne in Gone Girl. PHOTO COURTESY 20TH CENTURY FOX Having purposely kept myself in the dark regarding the central conceit at the core of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Gone Girl, I approached David Fincher’s adaptation of it ready to be knocked back on my heels. […]
Affleck’s engrossing Argo
If there’s a recurring theme in the three films Ben Affleck has directed, it’s that he’s fascinated with how characters react when they’re trapped. Gone Baby Gone dealt with the long-term ramifications of an act done in kindness that ultimately results in inescapable and tragic consequences. The Town concerned itself with people trapped by their […]
