Before Gone Baby Gone, The Town and, of course, Argo, Oscar winner Ben Affleck dabbled in directing a series of shorts to get his feet wet and hone his craft. One of his earliest efforts always carried a bit of buzz, but more for its provocative title that its content. The short is called I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her On a Meathook & Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney. Affleck filmed it in 1993 – 14 years before Gone Baby Gone -- so it’s obviously rough. But I’ve never seen it before, so I’m glad it’s now online and able to be viewed.
The Playlist posted the short, adding this fantastic quote from Affleck:
"It's horrible. It's atrocious. I knew I wanted to be a director, and I did a couple of short films, and this is the only one that haunts me. I'm not proud of it. It looks like it was made by someone who has no prospects, no promise."
In 1993, Affleck was coming off of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and School Ties, so he hadn’t yet developed the deep cynicism that would come with starring turns in duds like Gigli, Jersey Girl or a string of forgettable action movies that include John Woo’s Paycheck. But it is funny how steeped in industry talk this short happens to be. That dialogue helped fuel the Hollywood sides of Affleck’s Argo, so it’s possible Meathook had a little something to do with the director’s current Oscar run.
Then again, probably not.
