The Way Back (2020)

Between the known metatext and Affleck’s bone-deep commitment, this moving central performance largely purges the film of its high potential for the maudlin.

The Way Back shares those convictions and themes, but its greatest asset is its honesty.

The Way Back is a somber sports drama more interested in exploring the plight of its hero than in just the big games.

Affleck gives the impression of intimate familiarity with the anguish and self-disgust that dominate Jack’s life; this character and project clearly meant something important to him, as the title bluntly suggests, and he gives it his all without overdoing the melodrama.

Winning and losing are relative terms, but this is the first time in forever that Affleck feels like he’s got skin in the game.