Long in the works and frequently delayed by superheroic endeavors like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, Ben Affleck's Prohibition-era drama Live by Night is just around the corner. Given the awards pedigree he established with The Town and Argo, it's no wonder Warner Bros. has pegged it as a potential Oscar contender. But has the wait been worth it, and are their expectations achievable? The first trailer has arrived so we can begin to answer those questions.
Affleck directs and stars in the adaptation of Dennis Lehane's crime novel, set in the 1920s and following Joe Coughlin, a cop's son who finds he's better suited to the other side of the law. Joe's story will take him from his hometown of Boston to Florida and all the way to Cuba as a bootlegger and feared gangster. Zoe Saldana, Chris Messina, Scott Eastwood, Elle Fanning, Sienna Miller, Chris Sullivan, Anthony Michael Hall, Brendan Gleeson, Titus Welliver, Chris Cooper and Derek Mears make up another incredible cast Affleck has put together. Most he's worked with in the past on prior movies, and given the success he's had why not bring them back?
Although some will never like Affleck for whatever reason, his career is one of the most interesting to follow. This year alone we've seen him twice as Batman and we'll see him in the curious thriller The Accountant. Live by Night, which gets an early limited release before going wide January 13th 2017, looks like the movie that will be on the tip of everyone's tongues.
