Ben Affleck's Next Role Tackles Basketball, Loss, And Addiction

A trailer to Ben Affleck’s movie, “The Way Back,” has just dropped and it looks like the film may be one that is a bit more personal for the actor.

In the trailer, Affleck's character takes over the role of a high school basketball coach as a “distraction” after dealing with a monumental personal demon: alcoholism.

The story follows Jack Cunningham, someone who excelled at basketball when he was just in high school and received a full-ride scholarship to a university. For reasons unknown, he walks away from that dream, which later amounts to a major loss in his life. He spirals.

Jack returns decades later to his former high school, a struggling alcoholic who is trying to get his act together. He finds his “way back” to basketball and thus his way back to sobriety, a stable life by attempting to keep alcohol out of his hands.

According to Warner Bros in a description of the film, it’s a story focused on redemption. Gavin O’Russell, who directed the Affleck led film “The Accountant,” has returned to work with Affleck as a director on “The Way Back.”

The story may be one that hits on a personal level for Affleck, who has been having a hard time in the news lately, following multiple stints in rehab in the last few years due to a struggle with alcohol dependency.

The struggles Affleck has faced included a recent public appearance where he appeared to be heavily inebriated. While he appeared to be off the wagon, Affleck confirmed that his uphill battle with alcoholism isn’t over and that the particular incident was a “slip.”