It’s been four years since Ben Affleck directed Best Picture winner Argo, which means it’s about time for him to step behind the camera again. It’s also been more than half a decade since Affleck directed The Town, which means it is definitely time for him to get another Boston crime film out into the world. Luckily for every fan of Affleck’s “gritty” Boston projects (oh hi there, Gone Baby Gone) there is the the first trailer and incredible promise of Live By Night, based on the 2012 Dennis Lehane novel of the same name.
In case you are worried that Affleck is returning to the Boston crime well one too many times, there’s good news in that this isn’t specifically a Boston crime film. It’s actually a story about a criminal from Boston who moves to Florida to continue sowing his crime seeds throughout an unsuspecting new state during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Florida won’t know what hit ’em after Ben’s ringleader dons his double breasted suit and gets to rolling cars during a high speed chase. If anyone is unsure about being on board with this latest tale of love, lust, and a crap ton of moody looks into the middle distance, look no further for quality reassurance than this incredibly stereotypical gangster film quote that is uttered halfway through the trailer:
“What you put out into this world…will always come back to you. But it never comes back how you predict.”
It’s the kind of quote that appears in just about every movie of this type, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of originality in this project completely. Based on the trailer, there seems to be more pronounced female characters (portrayed by talented actresses like Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, and Sienna Miller) than there usually are in crime films. Plus, there is a definite glimpse of a jail scene so someone at least answers for a crime or two during the proceedings.
On the other hand, Affleck is portraying Joe Coughlin – who was the son of a famous Boston police captain – and the trailer hops between him shooting up a hallway and him guffawing while popping a champagne bottle in the blink of an eye. So maybe this is exactly the kind of Boston gangster story that has been told before and will be told again. Eithah way, we’ll shahly be in the theatah openin’ weekend fah this one.
