Affleck’s going through one hell of a career redefinition, ain't he? I remember the consensus being pretty divided on Gone Baby Gone, but The Town's pretty firmly established him as respectable director. Deadline says he' considering a number of projects for a follow-up, right now, but the most interesting has to be American Bullshit, a script that was actually just recently on the famous/infamous Black List.
It’s about the FBI’s “Abscam” sting operation from the late 70s/early 80s, which sounds like it’d make for a hell of a movie after only just a little digging online. Basically, the feds hired this convicted con artist to concoct a scam to trap corrupt congressmen and senators. The work was for FBI agents to pose as a employees of a bogus Sheikh and his fictitious company, Abdul Enterprises, Ltd., and then offer the marks bribes for political favors like asylum and money moving. When all was said and done, they nailed about six big politicos.
Really, this seems like the kind of operation Frank Abagnale (the scammer Catch Me If You Can was based on) might’ve come up with when he got a little more ambitious after years of working with the feds. Affleck's considering a couple other scripts like The Trade and an adaptation of Replay, but this is the one I'd want to watch.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_baby_gone/
The Town is unequivocally fantastic, though. He's also been on a decent acting roll since Hollywoodland. I'm a big fan of his these days.
...me too...