Jennifer Garner saved Ben Affleck’s new movie, The Way Back, from being cancelled. In the film, Affleck stars as Jack Cunningham, a former high school basketball standout who’s hired as his alma mater’s head coach. Much has already been made about how The Way Back parallels Affleck’s life, as Jack is struggling with alcoholism throughout the movie’s story. A couple of years ago, Affleck did a stint in rehab for alcohol addiction, adding a meta layer to The Way Back that makes viewers all the more interested to see the sports drama.

Set to premiere in theaters this Friday, The Way Back is earning mostly positive reviews. While critics are somewhat divided on the formulaic nature of the narrative, just about everyone is in agreement Affleck delivers a powerful lead performance and helps elevate the final product. As an actor, Affleck is receiving some of the highest praise of his career, and as it turns out he has his ex-wife Garner to thank for that. She played a role in keeping The Way Back on track.

In an interview with 34th Street, The Way Back director Gavin O’Connor revealed how Garner saved the film. Affleck entered rehab around the time The Way Back was gearing up to start production, raising questions about the project’s status. WB was planning to move on, but a phone call from Garner kept The Way Back alive. Said O’Connor:

It’s very apparent The Way Back was a personal project for Affleck that he was passionate about. He’s spoken about how making the movie was a cathartic experience for him after what he’d been through, so it’s easy to see why he remained committed to the film even as he underwent treatment. O’Connor said he visited Affleck in rehab so they could discuss the film and iron out the right approach for it, further illustrating Affleck’s dedication. It was also a nice move on Garner’s part to put a good word in for Affleck and let O’Connor know he was still interested. Without her, perhaps The Way Back would have been dropped and never come into fruition. Affleck and O’Connor did collaborate on the successful The Accountant, but there’s no guarantee another studio would have picked up The Way Back had Warner Bros. canned it.

So what happened was, just as we started prepping the movie, Ben fell off the wagon. So he ended up going to rehab, and I didn’t know if the movie was over. The studio certainly thought the movie was over. His ex–wife Jennifer Garner called me up, and told me that when he went to rehab, he took a basketball with him. She said, “Gavin, he’s asking you, please don’t pull the plug on the movie, he really wants to do this.”

The Way Back is poised to be a nice comeback vehicle for Affleck, who’s set to have a pretty big 2020. He’s currently filming Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel with Matt Damon and Adam Driver, and he’s also headlining drama Deep Water (which comes out this fall). Looking ahead, Affleck’s McScam movie remains in development and he has other possible directorial efforts in the works (like Ghost Army). Viewers may look at The Way Back as a turning point for Affleck’s career, as he overcomes his personal demons.

More: Every Upcoming Ben Affleck Movie

Source: 34th Street

  • The Way Back Release Date: 2020-03-06