Ben Affleck: You love him, you hate him, you can't get enough of him. Except for when you get too much of him and want him to go away for a while. Ever since he came seemingly out of nowhere and won an Oscar with Matt Damon for their Good Will Hunting screenplay, the Beantown booster has been all over Hollywood -- at the top, at the bottom, and everywhere in between. Herewith, a summary of his peaks and valleys.

Ben Affleck's Top 4

1. Directing Gone Baby Gone. Affleck's most recent achievement was this critically acclaimed crime drama set in his old Boston stomping grounds. Despite being his directorial debut (he also co-wrote the screenplay), it showed the maturity of an experienced filmmaker, suggesting that Affleck, like many before him, might gradually have a better career behind the camera than in front of it.

2. Hollywoodland. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his portrayal of George Reeves, the complicated actor who played Superman in the 1950s. Not only was the performance deep and nuanced, it also helped erase the memory of Affleck's other superhero-themed movie, Daredevil.

3. The Kevin Smith films. Before Good Will Hunting, Affleck was regularly employed by Smith in his New Jersey comedies Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Even after striking it rich, Affleck continued to work with Smith in Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and -- urp -- Jersey Girl. The films themselves are of varying quality, but Affleck is an affable, easy-to-like guy in all of them.

4. Saturday Night Live. He has hosted four times -- in 2000, twice in 2004, and in 2008 -- and each time he has won over viewers who thought they were tired of Ben Affleck. Like Justin Timberlake, Jon Hamm, and John Goodman, he's a far better SNL host than you would have expected: enthusiastic, willing to do anything, and capable of learning his lines. His Keith Olbermann impersonation a few months ago was an instant classic.

Ben Affleck's Bottom 4

1. Gigli. The obvious choice is also the best choice. Affleck is unconvincing as a New Jersey tough guy, and his romance with Jennifer Lopez is flat, too, even though they were actually together at the time.

2. Surviving Christmas. This unbearable yuletide comedy is a pageant of horror, a rancid, awful film in which Affleck's slimy adman character pays a household to be his surrogate family for the holidays.

3. Daredevil. Oh, Ben. You are a lot of things. A superhero is not one of them. (Also not one of them: action hero, as in The Sum of All Fears.)

4. That whole Jennifer Lopez thing. I mean, what was that all about? They made two movies together, both of them mistakes, and they were sickeningly over-exposed. And then they broke up anyway, making the whole affair a waste of our time. Now she's happily married to what's-his-name, and Affleck is making babies with Jennifer Garner, so let's just forget the J-Lo incident ever happened, OK?

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Eric D. Snider (website) decided to be cool and not mention Reindeer Games

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