Ben Affleck has been concentrating on turning himself into a respected director, thereby making people forget all about his mid-’00s run of films like Gigli, Paycheck, Jersey Girl, and Surviving Christmas—which was working until we just now brought them up. So anytime he settles on to an acting role these days it’s extra noteworthy, particularly when it means he’ll be taking on the role of Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s sure to be subtle and nuanced 3-D version The Great Gatsby. Bradley Cooper had been openly campaigning for the role of the wealthy, brutish, adulterous athlete going to seed, but it seems as though Luhrmann has been chasing Affleck all along, perhaps envisioning Tom as a more society-minded version of Affleck's asshole football player character in Dazed And Confused. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. Anyway, now it looks as though he’ll be making some room in his crowded schedule to intimidate Leonardo DiCaprio. In 3-D. We can’t say that enough.
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