Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.

There are a lot of actors who’ve stepped behind the camera to make movies and sometimes they are better at one or other other, but seldom both. Strangely, Ben Affleck has a lot of talent to share and while his acting roles have been slightly less impressive, his behind-the-camera efforts have been largely wonderful. His first screenplay won him an Oscar, having co-written it with Boston buddy Matt Damon. They’ve come together again to write the screenplay for Ridley Scott’s new film releasing this weekend, The Last Duel. Set near the end of the Middle Ages, the film revolves around a longstanding friendship that devolves into the last sanctioned duel in French history after an accusation of rape by a prominent knight’s wife.

Going a slightly different route this week, I’m going to look at the best films directed by and/or starring Ben Affleck. This will be the first time I’ve looked at both sides of an actor’s filmography and while there is some overlap, the results are a surprisingly solid list of films. The list I ultimately came up with was eight titles long, three of which were directed by and also starred Affleck.

The titles I removed were Jersey Girl, a surprisingly generic film by Kevin Smith. The main reason I even considered it was that it was the first film to introduce me to Sweeney Todd, which I absolutely consider one of the all-time great musicals. I have to give it some credit for that. I also removed the other Kevin Smith film from the list. While Dogman is rather hilarious, Affleck’s role in the film is minimal and really shouldn’t be considered for his oeuvre. The final film I removed was Affleck’s directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, a film that showed his promise as a director, but which is just slightly inferior to the two other films he directed on my final list.

Hollywoodland (2006)

With Affleck, you could point to any number of films as examples of his burgeoning ability as an actor, but you can also point to countless examples of his mediocrity. What Hollywoodland did was solidify the opinion that with the right role and maximal effort, he can be incredibly good. This was the first of several films that capitalized on his talents rather than on his looks, which was too often the differentiating point between whether he was going to fail or succeed.

In Allen Coulter’s sometimes inconsistent film, Affleck plays George Reeves, the actor who starred as Superman in a popular 1952 television. It follows a private detective (Adrien Brody) trying to unravel the mystery of Reeves’ death. Was it suicide or was it murder? The complex yet sometimes simplistic narrative makes a few guesses, but never quite settles on what the audience should believe, largely because the mystery was never adequately solved. It’s an interesting film in a mystery thriller style, but the reason to see it is for Affleck’s performance, which is easily one of his best, allowing him to explore the complex emotions surrounding fame and success and their debilitating effects on those who don’t quite know how to process the added attention.

The Town (2010)

In his second stint behind the camera, Affleck further refines his surprisingly astute skills as a filmmaker, crafting a riveting heist thriller in this adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s novel Adapted for the screen by Affleck, Peter Craig, and Aaron Stockard. It revolves around a group of bank robbers who take a hostage (Rebecca Hall). The situation becomes increasingly complicated when Affleck’s character falls in love with her in spite of her not knowing he was one of her abductors.

It’s a fascinating film with numerous ups and downs, commensurate violence, and a compelling hook that asks the audience to empathize with a criminal whose heart is in the right place. As a performance, Affleck’s is solid as are those of the impeccable supporting cast including Hall, Jon Hamm as an FBI agent, Jeremy Renner as a less principled and more reactionary member of the team, and Blake Lively as Renner’s wife. Pete Postlethwaite and Chris Cooper are given plenty of meaty elements to work with. All-in-all, it’s an engaging film that’s as riveting as it is contemplative.

Argo (2012)

Academy Award nominations are not a defining factor of broad acceptance of a filmmaker’s filmography. Several prominent non-American filmmakers have struggled for acceptance from the Academy in spite of universal critical acclaim. That said, earning an Oscar nomination is often considered a pinnacle of achievement for those who can get there. Affleck’s first two films failed to materialize more than tepid support form the Academy, with both films (Gone Baby Gone and The Town) earning only a single nomination apiece. With Argo, Affleck finally broke through, at least mostly.

Directing himself in the lead role of a CIA agent who goes undercover in Iran to rescue U.S. citizens at the American embassy in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in 1979. Posing as a film crew, Affleck and company get in through their connections to the Canadian embassy and manage to secure the hostages’ release through subterfuge and guile. This taut spy thriller twists and turns as all good thrillers do with the practiced skill of the director of The Town. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. Strangely, Affleck, who later won the DGA award for Best Director, was not nominated by the Academy in the same category. The film took Best Picture that year along with awards for Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing, all of which were deserved.

Gone Girl (2014)

For David Fincher’s 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone Girl, Affleck had to rely solely on his own acting capabilities portraying the frustrated husband of Rosamund Pike who disappears under mysterious circumstances, leaving him to try and uncover her whereabouts. Flynn also wrote her own screenplay for the film, which twist and turns as revelations begin to highlight the potential of Affleck’s complicity in her disappearance and possible murder.

Pike is the standout in this cast, playing the missing woman in flashback. Meanwhile, as the narrative spirals in strange and exciting ways, Affleck has to shift from concerned husband to potential killer without entirely losing the audience’s empathy. It may not be his most brilliant feat of acting, but he more than plays the part for the audience and for the narrative. Fincher is, of course, a master of the slow-boil tension that marks this production fascinating, but it’s Pike and Affleck who keep things working as long as they do with able support from Carrie Cooper.

The Accountant (2016)

Affleck may never have been able to sell audiences on being a romantic lead, but he proved more than adept in dramas, which explains why all of my five favorite films of his are thrillers. He may have made a perfect brooding Batman in the DC Extended Universe, but his last superlative performance was this Gavin O’Connor-directed thriller written by (later) Ozark creator Bill Dubuque. The film tells the story of an autistic child, raised by a mercenary father, who grows up to be a forensic accountaint uncooking criminal books. As the government closes in on him, he must outwit and outmaneuver his enemies, taking people out as necessary.

Although some criticized the film for its languid pacing, the choice to move the story along slowly allows the audience to keep track of events as they circuitously loop through the narrative. The editing is tight if controlled and Affleck does a bang-up job in the lead role. It’s certainly a film requiring a fair bit of attention and focus, not because the plot is that elaborate, but because if you can’t keep in the heat of the action, the film might seem like a slog. Regardless, it’s not a film that everyone likes, but among Affleck’s oeuvre, it’s one of his best efforts.