Ridley Scott's The Last Duel cut a kissing scene between longtime friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Even before The Last Duel dropped its first trailer, the movie was courting buzz for several reasons. In addition to being one of Scott's first movies in a few years, it reunites Oscar-winning writers Damon and Affleck on a script for the first time since Good Will Hunting. The two penned the men's perspectives for The Last Duel, while Nicole Holofcener wrote Jodie Comer's.
The distinction is important when considering the movie's subject matter. The Last Duel centers on a real life battle that occurred between Sir Jean de Carrouges (Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) after Jean's wife Marguerite (Comer) accuses Le Gris of raping her. Affleck plays Count Pierre d'Alençon, a noble who dislikes Jean. The Last Duel is set to premiere exclusively in theaters this upcoming weekend and has so far been met with generally positive reviews.
The Last Duel has a lot of elements that are inherently drawing attention to itself, but it could've had one more. While speaking to ET recently, Affleck and Damon revealed there was nearly a scene that would have involved them briefly kissing. "In the original actual version of that scene -- the way that ceremony actually took place was that you kissed everybody on the mouth. And we had that in the script," Affleck explained. Damon confirmed that this would've been their first on-screen kiss, but it was pulled from the script before it even was filmed. Affleck said, "Ridley thought it would be distracting, and his instincts are pretty good." However, there is still one interesting interaction between the two that did make it into the movie, as Damon added:
"Yeah the two characters really hate each other and that was really fun. In fact, the scene where I kneel before him, Ben just improvised this thing where I started to say my line and he just interrupted me and goes, 'Closer.' And I have to kind of get up and kneel again in front of him. And that was just -- he just did that and just kind of blurted that out, and it wasn't in the script."
While hardly taking place in a romantic context, it's probably safe to say that an actual kiss between Affleck and Damon would've stirred up a lot of interest. Scott was smart in recognizing that it would've been distracting; this way, the attention can simply be placed on The Last Duel and the story it is telling, not how it is depicting Affleck and Damon, save for the haircuts that have drawn plenty of conversation. Beyond that, it's exciting enough to know they've worked on the script together and will be sharing the screen once more.
The Last Duel arrives at a time when older audiences are still wary of returning to movie theaters amid the coronavirus pandemic, so its prospects this weekend are uncertain. Scott's name, along with Affleck and Damon's, could help draw in viewers. It also helps that Comer is a rising star thanks to her work in Free Guy and Killing Eve; altogether, The Last Duel has things working in its favor. It might not have a kiss between two of its leading men, but that's okay. Maybe Affleck and Damon can work it into their next collaboration.
Source: ET
