Innocent Serpents:

allegorical meditations in the film art

of Ben Affleck

by Gary W. Wright

        Curiously, like Sofia Carmina (SCC) Coppola, Barbara Loden, Angelina Jolie, Ida Lupino, Sean Penn, Sarah Polley, Robert Redford, and Nell Shipman, Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt aka Ben Affleck graduated from acting in films to creating film art.  However, unlike Penn and Redford but like SCC, Jolie and Polley, Affleck was a child in 1982 when the dread allegorical Zone War era that erupted after a shocking and outraging helicopter crash killed actor/writer/director Vic Morrow and illegally hired and employed child extras Renee Chen and Myca Le around 2:20 am in the early morning of July 23, 1982 on the George Folsey jr. produced John Landis set of the twilit, allegorical, Kathleen Kennedy associate produced, Frank Marshall produced and Landis and Steven Spielberg executive produced Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller docufeature film TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983).  Thus, Affleck was a part of the young Boomer brat generation that was more traumatized and outraged by the TZ disaster than most adult audience members and film artists were at the time.  A shocked fury that Affleck implicitly channelled when he co-wrote with Aaron Stockard and directed his first twilit, allegorical, computer generated imagery (CGI) enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film GONE BABY GONE (2007), released on September 5, 2007 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Dennis Lahane indie docufiction novel Gone Baby Gone (1998).

“Baby,

I’m sorry,

but you can’t ask me to do

something that I can’t do.”

        Curiously, after the Miramax Films intro, the film began with a montage of shots of the sun rising on the beat up and bloodied but brash, bold and unbowed Dorchester neighbourhood of Affleck’s hometown of Boston.  Eventually the gritty docufeature shots were joined by the film’s opening titles, and by a voiceover (VO) by someone who slowly appeared in the shots and turned out to be the short, slim, brunette, big eared, Giovanni Ribisi resembling and ambiguously linked private investigator Patrick Kenzie-played by Affleck’s younger brother Casey Affleck-a VO that evoked Ribisi’s film long VO for the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced SCC indie docufeature film THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999), that joined with the montage of shots to set the scene, and that ended with the moving words “…when I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all of the Evil in the world.  He told me what God said to his children: “You are sheep among wolves.  Be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.”” 

A moving and timely warning to children, indeed, for the montage ended outside a media mobbed brown three decker house whose inhabitants were traumatized by the disappearance of a Chen evoking and implicitly Dorothy linked three and a half year old girl named Amanda McReady-played by Madeline O’Brien-and her doll, Mirabelle aka Annabelle.  A girl whose Christian name reminded us that George Lucas had adopted a girl named Amanda, and whose surname evoked the indomitable, brunette, bearded, and implicitly Lucas linked U.S. Antarctic base helicopter pilot McReady-played by Kurt Russell-in the eerily twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced John Carpenter docufeature film THE THING (1982) to affirm an implicit interest in Lucas and the fateful and fatal year of ’82 on one level in GONE BABY GONE.  Here outside the three decker, Amanda’s implicitly Naomi Watts linked mother Helene McReady-played by Amy Ryan-and her aunt and uncle, the Kennedy resembling and possibly linked Beatrice “Bee” McReady and the Walter Murch resembling and implicitly and also implicitly Tin Man linked ex-con Lionel McReady-played by Amy Madigan and Titus Welliver, respectively-gave moving testimonials to tv reporters, moving testimonials that ended with an equally moving and solemn promise from the implicitly David Lynch and Great Oz linked Boston Police Department (BPD) chief Captain Jack Doyle-played by Freeman Morgan-that the BPD would do all it could to find Amanda. 

Significantly, this tv coverage was watched and heard at the nearby home of Kenzie and his unusually short, slim, beautiful, brunette, cool, calm, intelligent, fearless and implicitly Kathryn Bigelow and Glinda the Good linked female partner and luver Angela “Angie” Gennaro-played by Michelle Monaghan-her implicit link to the tall, slim, beautiful, brunette, cool, calm, intelligent, commanding and fearless Bigelow affirmed by the film’s allusions to the twilit and allegorical Bigelow indie docufeature films NEAR DARK (1987), BLUE STEEL (1990), and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, implicitly Lucas addressing and James Cameron executive produced Bigelow indie docufeature artbusters POINT BREAK (1991) and STRANGE DAYS (1995).  After they finally turned off the tv and the light and went to sleep, the last opening title simply read “…Directed by BEN AFFLECK”.

Significantly, the next morning Lionel and Bea showed up at Kenzie’s own three decker house and persuaded the reluctant PI to track down Amanda with Gennaro.  Resignedly starting their search at the McReady house soon after, they talked to Helene and met Captain Doyle, who grimly urged them to get the job done.  This they headed off to do, starting with a visit to a local bar called the Fillmore Lounge where a friend of Kenzie’s named Steve Penteroudakis-played by Jay Giannone-revealed that Helene had been snorting coke at the bar with a guy called Ray Likanski aka “Skinny Ray”-played by Sean Malone-rather than over at a neighbour’s house the fateful night that Amanda disappeared.  Tragicomically, this conversation with Penteroudakis almost led to a brawl with the bar’s surly owner Big Dave-played by William Lee-and some equally surly patrons led by the trash talkin’ Lenny-played by Brian Scannell-that affirmed the implicit link of Kenzie to Lucas rather than SCC or her cousin Ribisi, for the scene evoked a brawl that did break out in a cantina in Mos Eisley owned and tended by the equally surly Wuher-played by Theodore “Ted” Burnett-at the beginning of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg roasting Lucas indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE (1977).

Escaping the brawl, Gennaro and Kenzie hit the streets walking to meet up with the implicitly Sir Ridley Scott and Cowardly Lion linked BPD Sergeant-Detective Remy Bressant-played by Ed Harris, who played Hank Blaine in the implicitly Dorothy linked episode of the eerily twilit, allegorical, exuberantly macabre, implicitly Ozian themed film roasting and Screamin’ Stephen King scripted George A. Romero indie docufeature film CREEPSHOW (1982), a film alluded to in GONE BABY GONE to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in the twilit and disastrous year of 1982-and his implicitly M. Emmet Walsh linked partner Nicholas “Nick” Poole-played by John Ashton.  It was a fitting meeting, for the reluctant but determined hunt to find Amanda often evoked the determined hunt by world weary and implicitly Matthew Robbins linked Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Blade Runner Richard “Rick” Deckard-played by Harrison Ford-for a group of renegade Replicants in the crowded streets and decaying retrofitted buildings of L.A. 2019 to ensure that imperfect but natural and vital humans triumphed over perfect but unnatural bioengineered Replicants in life and in film art at the end of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Robbins addressing Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster BLADE RUNNER (1982) to implicitly reaffirm the interest in Sir Scott on one level in the film. Indeed, Kenzie’s film long VO evoked the film long VO of Deckard in the original ’82 cut of BLADE RUNNER, while the name of an implicitly Nikko the Monkey King linked cocaine addict and suspect in the disappearance of Amanda named Leon Trett-played by Mark Margolis, who openly linked the film to Sir Scott for he had played bit parts in two Sir Scott films-evoked the name of the renegade Replicant Leon Kowalski-played by Brion James-affirming the implicit link of GONE BABY GONE to BLADE RUNNER and the implicit link of Det.-Sgt. Bressant to Sir Scott.

        Significantly, the search led deep into the dark and dank depths of the local drug dealers, including the chubby, cheerful, helpful and Alex Proyas resembling and implicitly linked “drug lord” Bubbo Rugowski-played by Slaine-who supplied a tip that Skinny Ray worked for a Haitian drug dealer nicknamed “Cheese”.  This tip led Gennaro and Kenzie to meet up with Bressant and Poole at the McReady House for another talk with Helene, a talk that evoked the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving painting DUNE (1984) to reaffirm the implicit link of Capt. Doyle to Lynch and the implicit interest in Lynch on one level in GONE BABY GONE.  This talk led to the revelation that Helene and Skinny Ray had stolen some drug money from Cheese and the possibility that Cheese had kidnapped Amanda in order to hold her hostage until the money was returned.  Significantly, the drive to Skinny Ray’s place to talk to him about the revelation evoked a similar drive in the daylit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Walt Disney toasting and Ralph Bakshi roasting Lucas indie docufeature film AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973) to reaffirm the implicit interest in Lucas on one level and the implicit link of Kenzie to Lucas in GONE BABY GONE.

        Alas for Skinny Ray, he was found at his house tied to a chair and beaten and shot to death, a bloody sight that evoked a similar bloody sight in the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Tim Burton and Francis Coppola roasting Lynch indie moving painting BLUE VELVET (1986) to reaffirm the implicit link of Capt. Doyle to Lynch.  But the stolen drug money was found in a duffel bag buried in the backyard of the house where Helene had hidden it, leading to Gennaro and Kenzie meeting up with the more dangerous, sinister, menacing and implicitly Stanley Kubrick and Wicked Witch of the East linked Haitian Jean “Cheese” Baptiste-played by Ed Gathegi-and his duplicitous and implicitly Spielberg linked “partner” Chris Mullin-played by Jimmy LeBlanc-who were suspected of holding Amanda hostage with Cheese’s young, beautiful, unnamed and SCC resembling and possibly linked Laotian girlfriend-played by Mary Bounphasaysonh-in a sequence that evoked the twilit, allegorical and implicitly New Hollywood roasting Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster FULL METAL JACKET (1987) to affirm the implicit link of Baptiste to Kubrick, an implicit interest reaffirmed by the film’s allusions to the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Luc Besson roasting Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster FULL METAL JACKET (1999).  Here the two PIs offered to give the money back to Cheese in exchange for Amanda. 

Alas for Baptiste, he was gunned down when the exchange of the money for Amanda went wrong at an abandoned and spray paint graffiti covered quarry, which fittingly included the surname “Lynch” left by a visitor amidst its multicoloured mosaic sprayed all over some towering crags overlooking a deep pool in the quarry, in a sequence that evoked “The Crate”, the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked episode of CREEPSHOW, and that led everyone to believe that Amanda had fallen into and drowned in the deep pool.  Significantly, the chaotic fiasco at the quarry with multiple gunshots lighting up the darkness also evoked the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly John and Deborah Landis addressing and Lucas roasting Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster LEGEND (1985), the mountainous end of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau roasting Spielberg docufeature film CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977), the Paramount Pictures evoking mountain seen at the beginning of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced and implicitly William Friedkin roasting Spielberg indie docufeature film RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), and the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Terry Gilliam addressing Spielberg docufeature film E.T., THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL (1982) to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Spielberg on one level.

And so the hunt for Amanda ended, and life went on for six more months with more tension between Gennaro and Kenzie due to the presumed death of Amanda.  Along the way, Kenzie shot dead the pathetic, unarmed and Quentin Tarantino resembling and implicitly linked homicidal pedophile Corwin Earle-played by Matthew Maher-through the back of the head in an uncontrollable and completely un-Lucas like murder late in the film during a confrontation at the home of Trett and his “handsome” and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked wife Roberta Trett-played by Trudi Goodman-also implied that Affleck believed that Tarantino was a seriously warped and dangerous film artist, indeed, making it all too fitting that the film was as violent and filled with coarse language as a Tarantino film.  In addition, this showdown at the Trett house evoked the clue finding visit Deckard made to the Yukon Hotel room of Leon, and the confrontation with the implicitly Volker Schlondorff and Nikko the Monkey King linked renegade Replicant Roy Batty-played by Rutger Hauer-and the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked renegade Replicant Pris-played by Daryl Hannah-at the lonely conapt of the implicitly Nicholas Meyer and Cowardly Lion linked J.F. Sebastian-played by William Sanderson-at the end of BLADE RUNNER to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Sir Scott. 

Significantly, Poole was shot during the raid on the Trett house, and the sight and sound of Kenzie wandering morosely and thoughtfully down a Boston hospital corridor after pondering Poole in his hospital bed evoked the sight of THX 1138-played by Lawrence Duvall-walking down a subterranean corridor in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Kubrick roasting Lucas indie docufeature film THX 1138 (1971) to reaffirm the implicit link of Kenzie to Lucas and the implicit interest in Kubrick and Lucas in GONE BABY GONE.  The sight and sound of Kenzie’s shadow and nothing else seen in a hospital window also not only implied that he had now become one with his Dark Side after the murder of Earle, but reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Sir Scott, reminding us of the obsession with Dark Side mirror world opposite reflections in the film art of the iconoclastic and indie English film artist.

Surprisingly, however, Amanda turned out to have not drowned in the quarry, but been kidnapped by her uncle Lionel, the ex-con who had cooked up a kooky scheme with his police snitch contacts, Sgt.-Det. Bressant and Poole, and their supervisor Capt. Doyle to pin the kidnapping and faked death of Amanda on Cheese in order to secretly free the girl from her irresponsible and alcoholic “coke ho” mother Helene.  Along the way Sgt.-Det. Bressant died on a rooftop like Batty at the end of BLADE RUNNER to reaffirm his implicit link to Sir Scott and to imply that Affleck thought that Lucas had bested his film art.  Significantly, the lonely death of Bressant occurred after he was shot twice by the disgruntled bartender-played by Joseph Flaherty-of the Murphy’s Law pub after terrorizing that establishment with a shotgun while masked like the bank robbers of POINT BREAK and restaurant robbers of STRANGE DAYS, and like the implicitly John Ford linked ex-con Johnny Clay-played by Sterling Hayden-as he robbed a racetrack cash room in the allegorical and implicitly Ford and Ed Wood jr. roasting Kubrick docufeature film THE KILLING (1956) to also reaffirm the implicit interest in Bigelow and Kubrick in GONE BABY GONE.

And so Amanda was rescued from the safekeeping of Capt. Doyle and his implicitly Isabella Rossellini linked wife Francine-played by Kippy Goldfarb-a traumatic rescue that led to the arrests of Capt. Doyle and Francine, and the separation of Gennaro and Kenzie.  For the two disagreed over the need for the rescue, making it bittersweet, indeed, that the film ended with Kenzie babysitting Amanda while the indomitably irresponsible Helene went out for another drunken and coke sniffing night on the town, no doubt making Kenzie wonder if he should have listened to Gennaro and left Amanda in the safekeeping of Capt. Doyle and Francine, but nonetheless implying that Affleck was as committed to an imperfect but natural and vital humanity triumphing over perfect but unnatural and all CGI people in life and in film art as Sir Scott, making it fitting that GONE BABY GONE was released in the twenty-fifth anniversary year of BLADE RUNNER.  With Kenzie also watching over Amanda, in the end, Affleck also implicitly believed that it was Lucas and not Kubrick, Lynch and Sir Scott who had saved, protected and watched over a neo eon of CGI enhanced but vitally human film art.  Significantly, the bloodied but unbowed Kenzie looked as baby faced and innocent as Amanda despite all that he had gone through in the search for her as he sat beside Amanda on a couch in the McReady house watching tv, in the end, affirming that Kenzie was an innocent serpent, indeed.

And so Kenzie saved Amanda but alienated or set in motion events that led to the death of everyone in the process, an ambivalent ending that reminded us that while Lucas had indeed saved, protected and watched over a neo eon of CGI enhanced film art, he had also alienated most everyone with his attempt to win audiences back to his cause with the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy (1999-2005), a failed attempt that had ended only two years before the release of GONE BABY GONE with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting and Lynch toasting Lucas indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005).  And so Big Ben kicked off his film art career with a fine and confident film that came across as one by a seasoned film artist, not a first time film artist, and a fine film that favoured balanced frames filled with natural light and scenes captured mostly with one camera and sometimes two, at least one Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection, an implicit Ozian theme, well developed characters and an implicit commitment to an imperfect but vital humanity like a Sir Scott film with the exception of the presences of innocent serpents that was helped immensely by a courageous and talented cast as dedicated to the film as the director and the crew who threw themselves into and became their characters to add to the believability and impact of GONE BABY GONE.  And a freshman creation that was the most memorably depressing first fearless feature film since THX 1138, making it fitting that the implicitly Lucas luving Bigelow was implicitly addressed again on one level implicitly along with Lynch when Boston returned along with Scannell, Slaine, Stockard, Welliver, and executive producer David Crockett, composer Harry Gregson-Williams and production designer Sharon Seymour-all from GONE BABY GONE-when Affleck put on the actor/co-writer/director hats for the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film THE TOWN (2010), released on September 8, 2010 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Chuck Hogan indie docufiction novel Prince Of Thieves (2004).

“And that,

as they say,

is that.”

        Indeed, after the Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures and GK films intros, white titles on a blank black screen set the scene in the rough, ready, bank robbery obsessed and fittingly Hollywood cadenced Boston suburb of Charlestown, for the “Townies” were as obsessed with blockbuster heists as the citizens of Hollywood.  A blockbuster heist that immediately took place when film began without opening titles like a STAR WARS film but with a bank robbery in the Boston suburb of Cambridge where Affleck grew up by a quartet of small time punks and bank robbing Townies wearing lookalike Skeletor masks and black hooded coasts and comprised of the implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked Desmond “Dez” “Elden, the implicitly Lynch and Wicked Witch of the East linked James “Gem” Coughlin, the implicitly Proyas and Cowardly Lion linked Albert “Gloansy” Magloan, and the big, burly, brunette, and implicitly Jason Reitman and Great Oz linked NHL washout Douglas “Doug” MacRay-played by Owen Burke, Jeremy Renner, Slaine, and Affleck, respectively.

Significantly, this violent bank robbery traumatized the beautiful, brunette and Bigelow resembling and implicitly linked and Dorothy linked bank manager Claire Keesey-played by Rebeccah Hall-a trauma increased when the Townies took her hostage in their Brighton Electric getaway van to dissuade the police from following or shooting at them before releasing her unharmed, immediately affirming the implication that Affleck was addressing Bigelow again in his second film.  Indeed, the quartet of masked bank robbers evoked the quartet of bank robbers led by the mystic and implicitly Lynch linked Bodhi-played by Patrick Swayze-and dubbed the “Ex-President’s Gang” by the FBI and press due to their fondness for disguising themselves with masks of ex-U.S. presidents when they robbed L.A. banks in POINT BREAK, and the opening and equally violent restaurant robbery by a twilit trio of nylon masked robbers in STRANGE DAYS.  Curiously, the ultraviolent robbery by the masked quartet also evoked the gleefully ultraviolent misadventures of the masked Alexander “Alex” DeLarge-played by Malcolm McDowell-and his three equally masked droogs at the beginning of the eerily twilit, allegorical and implicitly Arthur Penn roasting Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) in another nod to Kubrick in an Affleck film.

        At any rate, the fact that the Cambridge bank robbery attracted the attention of BPD Detective Dino Ciampa-played by Welliver-and his federal colleague FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley-played by Jon Hamm-who tracked down the four outlaw Townies, as they continued their robbery spree with a tragicomic hit on an armoured car while disguised as equally lookalike horrorshow nuns with the same resigned determination as MacRay tracked down and courted Keesey so as to win her over to his side and persuade her not to rat him out to the FBI reaffirmed the implicit interest in Bigelow in THE TOWN.  For FBI Special Agent Frawley evoked the equally, young, dedicated and implicitly Lucas linked FBI Special Agent Johnny Utah-played by Keanu Reeves-in POINT BREAK.  Significantly, FBI Special Agent Frawley also evoked the equally young, dedicated and implicitly King linked FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper-played by Kyle MacLachlan-in the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving telepainting series TWIN PEAKS (1990-91) and the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving painting TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992) to reaffirm the implicit link of Coughlin to Lynch and the implicit interest in Lynch on one level in THE TOWN, an implicit interest also affirmed by the film’s allusions to BLUE VELVET.

        Significantly, the outlaw Townie quartet were often lit by blue film projector evoking light over the course of the film, light which implicitly signalled that characters were in danger of being destroyed by lusts for blockbuster beast fortune and glory in a Sir Scott film and that made its first ominous appearance in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster ALIEN (1979).  Thus, the decision of the clean cut and imperfect but vitally human Doug MacRay-whose names evoked Doug McGrath, who played Larry, and Charles Hallahan, who played Ray, opposite Morrow’s cranky and implicitly Richard Rush linked Bill Connor in the Fender Trap bar scene that kicked off the Landis episode of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE-to leave behind his bank robbing daze and his sexy, blonde, and implicitly Sarah Polley linked one time girlfriend Kristina “Kris” Coughlin, sister of Gem-and played by Blake Lively-in Boston and to retire anonymously and as moustached and bearded as Reitman at the time in Florida, as untouched by his violent activities and as much of an innocent serpent as Kenzie, after a last big beastly blockbuster heist of Fenway Park that again evoked the race track robbery in THE KILLING and that led to the shooting deaths of the other three members of his gang including Coughlin, in the end, implied that Affleck was not impressed with the first two feature films of Reitman and wanted him to retire from the biz, and also implicitly reaffirmed his commitment to a truly imperfect but vital humanity in life and film art.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to the brash, confident, daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lynch toasting and Lucas roasting Reitman indie docfeature film THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (2005) and the equally brash and confident daylit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced and implicitly Cameron and Lucas toasting and Bigelow and Sir Peter Jackson roasting Jason Reitman indie docufeature film JUNO (2007) affirmed the implicit interest in Reitman on one level. 

Curiously, the fact that the film held out the possibility of a reunion between MacRay and Keesey in Florida in the quiet and reflective end also implied that Affleck had mixed feelings that in 2009 Bigelow took six Academy Awards including the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars from Cameron and the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie animaction Zonebuster AVATAR (2009) with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lynch addressing indie docufeature artbuster THE HURT LOCKER (2006) a film which had implicitly and admiringly linked the ability of the implicitly Lynch linked U.S. Army bomb disposal expert Sergeant William James-played by Renner-to defuse and survive blockbuster bombs and keep going to the ability of Lynch to somehow survive blockbuster bombs like DUNE and TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME and keep going.

And so THE TOWN was another bloodied but brash, bold and unbowed feature film from Affleck that featured balanced and naturally lit frames and scenes captured mostly with one or two cameras, at least two Dark Side mirror world opposite reflections, an implicit Ozian theme, reasonably well developed characters, an implicit tragicomic commitment to an imperfect but vital humanity, and now filled with ominous and beastly blockbuster blue film projector light, all of which again evoked a Sir Scott film, with the exception of the presence of more innocent serpents.  And a successful second feature film, a success that no doubt inspired Affleck to again don the actor/director/co-producer hats, regrow the moustache and beard seen on the face of the retired MacRay at the end of THE TOWN and also team up again with Seymour, Welliver, Victor Garber-who played the fittingly named David, assistant manager of the Cambridge bank, in GONE BABY GONE-and William Goldenberg-editor of GONE BABY GONE-to implicitly address Lucas and Reitman again and Landis on one level in the thirtieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster in his biggest, most ambitious and strangest film yet, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film ARGO (2012), released on August 31, 2012 and inspired by real events, the allegorical Antonio “Tony” J. Mendez indie book The Master Of Disguise (1999), and the allegorical Joshuah Bearman article “Escape From Tehran: how the CIA used a fake sci-fi flick to rescue Americans from Iran” (WIRED May 2007).

“If you’re going to do

a twenty million dollar STAR WARS ripoff,

you need somebody who is a somebody

to put their name on it.”

Significantly, after starting off with a retro Warners intro from the sunswept and Skyrocking Seventies that immediately established the retro and implicitly Skyrocking theme of the piece, followed by a GK films intro and four opening titles that did not mention cast, crew or director like a STAR WARS film, ARGO began with a photograph and film filled prologue that evoked the rising golden word scrawl that set the scene at the beginning of all STAR WARS films and that set the riotous and revolutionary scene in Iran in November 1979 and that was intercut with animated film storyboards, creating a fusion of animation and live action film art that evoked the similar opening titles sequence of JUNO, implying that young Reitman was being addressed in ARGO.  Indeed, the film’s implicit Reitman addressing intent was affirmed by allusions to JUNO, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, the equally brash, confident, daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Sir Scott and Richard Kelly addressing Reitman indie docufeature film UP IN THE AIR (2009), and the brash, confident, daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Gary W. Wright roasting Reitman indie docufeature film YOUNG ADULT (2011), and by the fact that numerous black haired, eyebrowed, eyed, bearded and moustached young male extras in the scenes in Iran including these opening mob rules scenes resembled the equally black haired, eyebrowed, eyed, bearded and moustached Reitman. 

However, after the prologue disappeared, the film began in an Iran that was as beat up and bloodied but brash, bold and unbowed as the Boston neighbourhoods of GONE BABY GONE and THE TOWN, albeit after decades of U.S. aided misrule by the gleefully corrupt Shahanshah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, his “government” and his violent SAVAK thugs, immediately linking the three films together.  Unlike the Boston battlers, however, the indignant Iranians were so mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore that they rose up in indomitable rebellion, overthrew the Shahanshah, his “government” and his thugs, took over the country and installed the Ayatollah Khomeini as their more spiritually minded leader.  As retribution for installing the Shahanshah in a coup in 1953 and allowing him to flee to the U.S to avoid the revolutionaries, the indomitable Iranians also stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran with its THX 1138 evoking security office on November 4, 1979 and took most of its American staff hostage so as to trade them for the Shahanshah, evoking the kidnapping and confinement of Amanda in GONE BABY GONE in another link to that film.  All except six U.S. embassy staff members, Cora and Mark Lijek-played by Clea DuVall and Christopher Denham, respectively-Joseph D. and Kathy Stafford-played by Scoot McNairy and Kerry Bishe, respectively-and Bob Anders and Henry Lee Schatz-played by Tate Donovan and Rory Cochrane, respectively-who managed to surreptitiously slip out of the visa office of the embassy through a back door and find asylum with Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor-played by Garland-and his wife Pat Taylor-played by Page Leong-at the residence of the Canadian embassy.

Significantly, Bob Anders, Mark Lijek and Joe Stafford resembled STAR WARS Classic Trilogy conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) visual effects man Joe Johnston, and Frank Oz, the muppeteer who played Yoda, respectively, implying that Lucas was being addressed in the film instead of Reitman.  Thus, the sight and sound of the ironically tall, brunette, bearded, moustached, whisky luvin’, and Lucas resembling and implicitly linked and Tin Man linked Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Agent Anthony “Tony” Mendez-played by Affleck-being redirected from his current assignment 69 days into the Iran hostage crisis and working out the rescue plan with the support of his implicitly Sir Scott and Cowardly Lion linked supervisor Jack O’Donnell-his implicit link to Sir Scott affirmed by the film’s allusions to the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Spielberg roasting Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster BODY OF LIES (2008), and played by Bryan Cranston-and then flying to L.A. and, with the help of the real life, Oscar winning and implicitly Scarecrow linked makeup/creature designer John Chambers and the veteran, J.K. Simmons evoking and implicitly Great Oz linked film producer Lester Siegel-played by John Goodman and Alan Arkin, respectively-creating a fake film production company called Six Films Productions, a name that not only openly referenced the six Americans in the Canadian ambassador’s residence in Tehran but also reminded us that Lucas had by this time created six STAR WARS films, to create a fake sly fi film called ARGO that was a clone of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE-!complete with a blue wookiee played by Andrew Varenhorst!-and then arriving on the scene in Tehran in January 1980 well over seventy days into the hostage , taking crisis disguised as Kevin Harkins, a Canadian production assistant for Six Films Productions, to successfully exfiltrate the six American embassy employees from the Canadian ambassador’s residence to the Tehran airport and out of the country via Swissair against all odds disguised as members of the Canadian film crew who had been in Iran scouting possible locations for ARGO implied that Affleck was not pleased with the implicit Lucas addressing intent of JUNO and THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, and also in YOUNG ADULT on one level, and was striking back at young Reitman on behalf of Lucas, and perhaps even on behalf of the poor ol’ Gardevil (POG), given that Gary Wright was implicitly roasted in the implicit form of bitter, haunted and despondent young adult fiction writer Mavis Gary-played by Charlize Theron-in the latter film, as well as evoking the equally difficult battle Lucas had to fight to create STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE in the process.

Significantly, the sight and sound of Republican Guard soldiers frantically driving onto the runway of the Tehran airport in a desperate attempt to stop the Swissair getaway plane from blasting off from Emeraldine Tehran like the hot air ballon of the Great Oz or the Millenium Falcon blasting out of Mos Eisley on Tatooine in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE when they realized that they had mistakenly let the seven Americans escape evoked the sight and sound of dozens of Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers, SWAT team members and National Guardsman frantically converging on Chicago City Hall to arrest the implicitly Lynch and Mel Brooks linked Elwood and Joliet Jacob “Jake” Blues-played by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, respectively-at the end of the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Landis indie docufeature film THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980), implying that Affleck was also trying to break free from Landis, a Reitman family friend, as well as young Reitman in ARGO, in the thirtieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster.  Indeed, by returning to the U.S. in 1980 after the triumphant conclusion of the “exfil” sting in one of the last good years before the TZ disaster and shortly before the release of the presciently and eerily twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas co-executive produced and implicitly Spielberg roasting Irvin Kershner indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980), and also alluding to the Ark of the Covenant being packed into a crate and stored in a vast warehouse at the end of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK in the Last Good Year of film art before the TZ disaster when Mendez dropped off his operation memorabilia for storage in the CIA archives, Affleck implicitly affirmed his commitment to another Good Year and a daylit neo eon of TZ disaster free film art, with himself perhaps emerging as the batty and fearless new Lucas who would finally and fully end the dread allegorical Zone Wars.

And so Mendez returned triumphant to the U.S. with no more reward than a covert thank you for his efforts, implicitly reaffirming that Affleck now understood the dangers of creating blockbuster beasts, making it fitting that there was little ominous blockbuster blue film projector light in the film.  An ironic implication, given the implicit link of Mendez to Lucas and the beastly blockbuster loot Lucas made on the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, blockbuster profits on full display when the film ended with Mendez relaxing in classic innocent serpent fashion with his son Ian Mendez-played by Aidan Sussman-in his son’s bedroom with the original one sheet or poster of a film originally just called STAR WARS on the wall at the head of the bed surrounded by shelves full of Kenner STAR WARS and also his BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, FORBIDDEN PLANET, PLANET OF THE APES and STAR TREK action figures and spaceships, openly linking Ian and Tony to Lucas and the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and one of its most famous clones to affirm the implication that Affleck believed that despite his failure to truly succeed with the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, Lucas and his film art still easily broke triumphed over that of the brash and confident young Reitman and broke audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre free from Landis and the TZ disaster, in the end. 

And so Affleck implicitly roasted a young Canadian film artist to help Lucas and his film art escape from the Wicked clutches of Reitman in a film about the famous real life escape of six Americans from Tehran in 1980 that was falsely attributed to Ambassador Taylor in particular and Canada in general to protect the lives of the remaining American hostages in a strange and contradictory implicit allegory that was both pro- and anti-Canada and Canadians in a film with the now familiar balanced and naturally lit frames, scenes captured with one or two cameras, at least two Dark Side mirror world opposite reflections, an implicit Ozian theme, thinly developed characters, an implicit commitment to an imperfect but vital humanity, that again evoked a Sir Scott film with the exception of the presences of more innocent serpents, making it fitting that O’Donnell was implicitly linked to Sir Scott.  Curiously, Affleck also implicitly affirmed his commitment to an imperfect but vital humanity triumphing over perfect ahumanity with ARGO.  Last but not least, it was fitting that Jolly Jack “King” Kirby-curiously played by Michael Parks, who looked nothing like Kirby-made his appearance in L.A. as the production designer for ARGO, given that the new, improved and CGI enhanced Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was in full swing by the time of the release of ARGO.

And then an implicit support for Lucas continued when Affleck put on the actor/writer/director/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Goldenberg, Gregson-Williams, Lehane-now also a co-executive producer-Maher, Welliver, Warners, Chris Cooper-who played MacRay’s imprisoned and implicitly David Cronenberg and Tin Man linked father Stephen “Big Mac” MacRay in THE TOWN-Chris Messina-who played the ironically surnamed Washington bureaucrat Malinov in ARGO-and Jacqueline West-costume designer on ARGO-to implicitly wrap up a Lucas Trilogy in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film LIVE BY NIGHT (2016), released on December 13, 2016 and inspired by the daylit and allegorical Lehane indie docufiction novel Live By Night (2012).

“You were the child who was supposed

to fix the distance between me and your mother.”

Curiously, after another retro Warners intro, and a Pearl Street films logo, followed by three opening titles, the last of which affirmed the title of the film but none of which again mentioned cast, crew or director like a STAR WARS film, still photographs including one of a young American soldier with big Lucas ears that set the Great War and post-war Roaring Twenties scene accompanied by the first words of a film long VO that evoked that of Kenzie in GONE BABY GONE from who turned out to be the clean cut and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Dorchester lad Joseph “Joe” Coughlin-played by Affleck.  Then the film started in familiar Boston territory albeit in the Prohibition era with the tragicomic bank and rumrunner robbery misadventures of Coughlin’s indie three man gang, starting with a stickup of the Albert White gang that evoked the Fenway Park robbery at the end of THE TOWN and the racetrack robbery in THE KILLING that led to a brutal beating from the implicitly Cameron and Wicked Witch of the East linked Boston Irish mob boss White-played by Robert Glenister-after Coughlin was betrayed by the beautiful, blonde, bewitching, elusive, and implicitly Suzi Amis and Dorothy linked orphan waif Emma Gould-played by Sienna Miller.  A brutal beating that convinced Coughlin to move south to join not MacRay but his on the lam and implicitly Disney and Cowardly Lion linked gang buddy Dion Bartolo-played by Messina-in Tampa where they ran the Tampa wing of the gang overseen by expatriate and implicitly Dino De Laurentiis and Wicked Witch of the West linked indie Boston gang boss Maso Pescatore-played by Remo Girone. 

Arriving in Ybor, a ghetto area of Tampa that evoked Burbank, CA, Bartolo and Coughlin immediately intimidated the gesticulating and implicitly Lynch linked Gary L. Smith-played by Anthony M. Hall-into leaving town and took over the illicit and lucrative rum running and selling business.  Along the way, they reached an understanding with the genial, courteous, pragmatic and implicitly Roger Corman and Tin Man linked Tampa Police Chief Irving “Irv” Figgis-played by Cooper-rescued his sweet, innocent, pious, ironically Traci Lords evoking and implicitly Glinda linked daughter Loretta-played by Elle Fanning-from Los Angeles pornographers and gunned down the chief’s pesky and violent brother-in-law, the Ku Klux Klan luvin’ and implicitly Tarantino linked psycho robber R.D. Pruitt-played by Maher-making it all too fitting that LIVE BY NIGHT was as violent and coarse language spewing as a Tarantino film and as GONE BABY GONE.

Significantly, however, after freeing Loretta, and Ybor of pesky Pruitt, and gunning down Pescatore, White, Pescatore’s implicitly Dante linked son Digger-played by Max Casella-and Pescatore’s men after Pescatore and White tried to team up and kill Coughlin, Bartolo and their gang and run Tampa together at the end of the film and establishing himself as the Great Oz big boss, Coughlin retired, made Bartolo the head of the gang, and went off as unaffected by his violent life like another innocent serpent to a quiet life with the Afro Queen of his hologram dreams, his implicitly Good Witch of the South linked and innocent serpent Cuban wife Graciela-played by Zoe Saldana-and their son Tomas-played by Gabriel Silva-reminding us that Lucas retired after selling Lucasfilm and ILM to Disney to affirm the implicit link of Coughlin to Lucas and implying that Affleck believed that Lucas beat the competition during his career, particularly film artists and producers like Cameron, Corman, Dante, De Laurentiis, Lynch and Tarantino who implicitly roasted Lucas in some of their films.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI-a film with its own beautiful, bewitching, elusive and implicitly Glinda linked blonde in a white ’56 Thunderbird, played by Suzanne Somers-BLUE VELVET, DUNE, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, T1, THX 1138, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Coppola family addressing Cameron indie docufeature Zonebuster TRUE LIES (1994), the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas roasting Lynch indie moving painting LOST HIGHWAY (1997), and the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Reitman roasting Tarantino indie docufeature film DJANGO (2012) and that LIVE BY NIGHT was indeed the third film in a Lucas Trilogy. 

And so Affleck implicitly linked the shy, quiet, thoughtful, peaceful and nonviolent Lucas to a violent and illicit rum distilling and selling criminal and had an altogether too imperfect and not so vital humanity implicitly triumph in the end, unlikely implications that perhaps explained why LIVE BY NIGHT bombed in theatres.  Despite this failure, LIVE BY NIGHT was another fine and fearless feature film with balanced and this time artistic frames lit with natural light, scenes shot mostly with one or two cameras, some ominous blockbuster blue film projector light, at least one Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection, an implicit Ozian theme, well developed characters and an implicit commitment to a truly imperfect humanity that evoked the film art of Sir Scott even more than had the previous films of Affleck, with the exception of the presences of more innocent serpents.  And so the implicit allegorical intent of LIVE BY NIGHT was implicitly understood by Disney, for they soon teamed up with Lucasfilm, ILM and Ron Howard and ironically made Affleck’s implicit STAR WARS luvin’ dreams come true by having the rough hewn but Good, true but unusually short, fair skinned, and implicitly Sir Scott and Scarecrow linked orphaned Corellian street urchin turned adult battler Han Solo-played by Alden Ehrenreich-win the Millenium Falcon from the handsome, well dressed, smooth, suave, and droid luvin’ but dishonest, duplicitous, exuberantly self centred and Affleck and Tin Man linked space pirate Lando Calrissian-played by Donald Glover-in a fateful rematch game of sabaac at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed animaction film SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (2018), a film fittingly released on May 18, 2018.

As for Affleck, after fading to black and brooding bitterly over the failure of LIVE BY NIGHT for years, he finally donned the actor/co-writer/co-producer hats and teamed up with longtime friend, collaborator and fellow actor/co-writer/co-producer Matt Damon and, fittingly, given that an Affleck film contained most of the elements of a Sir Scott film, with Sir Scott to implicitly join the lamentable sub-genre of the dread allegorical Zone Wars known unfortunately as Cinema Garite when they had the fiery, battle scarred, hard luck and implicitly Wright and Cowardly Lion linked knight Sir Jean de Carrouges-played by Damon-take on and kill the dastardly, rapacious and implicitly Reitman and Wicked Witch of the West linked knight Captain Jacques le Gris-played by Adam Driver-to avenge the raped, wronged, beautiful, blonde, intelligent, educated, sensitive, book luvin’ and implicitly Polley and Dorothy linked Lady Marguerite de Carrouges-played by Jodie Comer-in a bloody joust turned duel at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster THE LAST DUEL (2021), a film released on September 10, 2021 and inspired by the daylit and allegorical Eric Jager indie book The Last Duel: a true story of crime, scandal and trial by combat in medieval France (2004).  An implicit journey into Cinema Garite that Affleck implicitly and inexplicably enjoyed, for he soon donned the actor/director/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Damon, Goldenberg, Maher, Messina to implicitly address the poor ol’ Gardevil again in even more amused and sympathetic exasperation in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film AIR (2023), released on March 18, 2023.

“What’s your price for flight

in finding Mr. Right?”

Indeed, after the exuberantly flashy, showy, narcissistic and grandiose Amazon Studios and Skydance Sports intros, and the more modest Artist Equity and Mandalay Pictures intros, to the sound of Sting singing “I want my, I want my, I want my MTV”, the film began with the opening titles, the last of which said “…DIRECTED BY BEN AFFLECK”, appearing on the screen amidst a montage of film and tv shots from 1984 that included a clip from the commercial Sir Scott directed for Apple and a shot of Mr. T. taking out an Evildoer with a mighty, pulverizing and Zonebusting punch on an episode of the A-TEAM, intercut with shots of the interior of a company headquarters that turned out to be that of Nike including one of an employee throwing a dart at a Reagan dartboard that evoked the Ayatollah Khomeini dartboard in the U.S. embassy at the beginning of ARGO, all to the ironic sound of the twilit, allegorical and Mark Knopfler and Sting written Dire Straits tune “Money For Nothing” (1985) and evoking the pop song accompanied montages that began many Reitman films.  Then AIR revolved around the strange, solitary, brilliant, indie, Gonzaga doubtin’ and implicitly Wright and Dorothy linked Nike basketball “guru” Sonny Vacarro-played by Damon-first met in the opening montage of shots haunting a high school gym done up in the school’s blue and white colours in search of the one new rising phenom for Nike to sign to finally succeed in promoting its running shoes to the basketball crowd, a sight and sound that reminded us that the equally strange, solitary, brilliant and indie Wright was born and initially raised in Toronto, a city with blue and white official colours, and now haunted Streetsville Secondary School in Mississauga as its hard pressed and tragicomic Library Technician, affirming the implicit link of Vacarro to Wright. 

Tragicomically, the sight and sound of the clean cut and baby faced Vacarro stopping by in Emerald City evoking Las Vegas and being completely unaffected by the city, its denizens and his gambling losses made him a classic innocent serpent, indeed, before he returned to his solitary post in the Tape Archive at Nike HQ in Beaverton, Ontario evoking Beaverton, Oregon and watching and rewatching the company’s videotape collection of basketball games so as to glean as much insight as possible from them, with particular attention paid to a game that linked him like the POG to the twilit and disastrous year of 1982 as it saw Michael Jordan swoosh in a three pointer that won that year’s U.S. college championship reaffirmed his implicit link to Wright, reminding us that Wright also sat alone in his closet apartment watching and rewatching his collection of DVDs to glean as much insight into the pre-Zone War and Zone War eras as possible from them so as to improve his Zone War scholarship and his book on Lucas.  This made it fitting that the film was set in the twilit and Orwellian year of 1984, deep in angry, confused, depressed and traumatized Wright sadolescent territory only two years after the TZ disaster and one year after the releases of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE and the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced and implicitly Spielberg roasting Richard Marquand indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983). 

Thus, the sight and sound of Vacarro trusting his intuition and insight in classic Jedi tradition and, with the help of the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked running shoe artist extraordinaire Peter “Pete” Moore, who like Vacarro was an innocent serpent and one devoutly dedicated to the elevation of the sole-and played by Maher in a rare sweet role-persuading the implicitly Reitman and Great Oz linked Nike CEO Philip H. “Phil” Knight, a beamin’ Buddha of a CEO who as much as an innocent serpent as Moore and Vacarro-and played by Affleck-the nasty and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked agent David Falk-played by Messina-and the implicitly Glinda the Good linked Deloris Jordan-played by Viola Davis-and her husband James-played by Julian Tennon-that their son Michael-played by Damian D. Young-was the one great new player and innocent serpent that Nike should sign to finally succeed with something more than beastly blockbuster profits and realize their dream of becoming a big player in basketball shoes implied the hope of Affleck that Reitman and Wright would put aside their tedious tiff and work together to succeed with the bigger dream called film art, an implicit sympathy for the Gardevil perhaps helped by the fact that Affleck played the traumatized, troubled, haunted, angry and implicitly Wright linked Gotham City playboy Bruce Wayne aka “Batman” in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films.  Indeed, the sight and sound of Vacarro suddenly insisting that the implicitly Tin Man linked marketing wiz Robert “Rob” Strasser-played by Jason Bateman, who openly linked the film to the film art of Reitman and affirmed the implicit Reitman and Wright addressing intent of AIR, as Bateman played the implicitly Sir Jackson linked Mark Loring in JUNO and the implicitly Sir Scott linked Craig Gregory in UP IN THE AIR-turn off the projector showing a promotional video for the new Jordan Air shoe after its ominous and beastly blue blockbuster light filled a conference room before launching the heartfelt and passionate impromptu speech that finally won the Jordans over to the Nike cause implicitly and fittingly linked the quest to sign Jordan to higher goals than beastly blockbuster profits.

And so AIR was a fine and inspiring feature film that found an audience to restore Affleck’s faith in film art, and one with the usual balanced and naturally lit frames, scenes captured with one or two cameras, some ominous and beastly blockbuster blue film projector light, an implicit Ozian theme, reasonably developed characters, an implicit commitment to an imperfect but vital humanity and at least four innocent serpents.  And one that reaffirmed it did that the battling and bloodied but brash and unbowed and implicitly Lucas luvin Affleck had the natural and intuitive Force to be a great film artist and to achieve true immortality by affirming an imperfect but vital humanity and rising to the artbuster level he almost reached with LIVE BY NIGHT like the Sir Scott his films evoked.  Just as long as joined his main characters he did in being wise as serpents and innocent as lambs so as to avoid beastly blockbuster lusts and remain on the right path that led to the legendary and mysterious realm of…Innocent Serpents.