An Oscar winner battles his demons
FINDING THE WAY BACK Ben Affleck stars in a cathartic and coruscating tale of addiction.
Let’s be honest about this,” director Gavin O’Connor confides to Teasers, “the alcoholic part of this movie Ben knew really well.” He’s talking about his new drama, Finding The Way Back, and his star Ben Affleck. The actor plays Jack Cunningham, a former high school basketball star who spends his nights alone sinking beer after beer. For Affleck, who recently came out of rehab for the third time, it’s a remarkably raw and honest performance.
“I’m not saying anything he won’t talk about,” qualifies O’Connor. “That was not a big stretch for Ben. He understood the addiction part really well. And the challenge was his bravery and courage to go to these very dark places, to dramatise a guy who is imprisoned by this disease.” As the title suggests, Jack gets a shot at redemption when he’s offered the chance to coach a high-school basketball team, the one bright spot in a life that’s endured its fair share of tragedy.
Opening up “the boxes that carry the demons”, says O’Connor, was a hugely cathartic experience for Affleck. “Just coming out of rehab, he was so raw… Ben had just come out the other side. So it was this weird thing of life
imitating art and art imitating life. He was tapping into parts of his spirit that needed to be enlivened and enriched and also confronted in a very honest way. I’m really proud of what he did in the movie… he was always confronting his alcoholism and the addiction and the demons and he never shied away from that.”
Ironically, the aspect of the story that was more alien to Affleck was the sport at the film’s heart. “He had never played basketball,” O’Connor notes. “He wasn’t in a locker room growing up as a kid. So the basketball part of it was a little more nerve-racking for me to get him up to speed on, the believability of being an ex-player and a coach.” Affleck spent time with real coaches, even coaching a high-school practice game, to get under the skin of the sport. “You can smell if it’s authentic or not.”
While O’Connor, 56, has broached sports before (in 2011’s mixed martial arts drama Warrior, which also dealt with the demon drink), Finding The Way Back was a different prospect. “What I really fell in love with was doing a character study,” he says. “I’d never made a movie that was just about one person, a fly-on-the-wall [where] we are privy to his behaviour. I want to do more than that!” He promises that he’s already “pushing” his next movie Fast towards being more character-driven. Somehow, you know he’ll find a way. JM
ETA | 24 APRIL / FINDING THE WAY BACK OPENS NEXT MONTH.