Really good. Maybe not Oscar winning levels of accomplishment, but certainly respectable, compelling filmmaking. Kudos to you, Ben Affleck, I’m pretty impressed. There was only one thing I would consider a directorial gaffe / and it was perhaps a difficult moment of filming? I don’t know, but only one moment where I thought “That’s not right.” I’ll give you one or two (or maybe four depending) of those and still consider it a good flick.

Casey Affleck = also very impressive here. As I felt with Leo in “The Departed”, this is the movie where Casey really became sexy to me. In the past = attractive but in a kinda skeevy way. In this movie = H-O-T, hot. Really liked watching him play this role, lots of subtle moral struggles. He did a great job.

Also nice bits by Ed Harris and Amy Madigan.

Although here is the conversation as I imagine it: Ed (says to Ben): “Hey, Ben, yeah I’ll be in your movie but only if you have a part for my wife too. And here’s the deal, you have to make me look super, super hot and older man sexy, but you have to make her look as crappy, old and bedraggled as possible. Does that work for you? Yeah? OK then! We’ll do it!” (Yes, her part requires that she be somewhat more bedraggled than his does…but still…it was a bit…noticeable.)