Casey Affleck isn't a star -- not yet, anyhow -- but he's using that to his advantage.

CNN: Review: 'Gone Baby Gone' is good, very good

James also humors his young admirer, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), who starts off wanting to imitate his hero and ends up killing him.

NEWYORKER: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The movie, about an outcast boy who can communicate with the dead, from Comcast's Focus Features, includes the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick and Casey Affleck.

WSJ: 'Expendables 2' Bumps 'Bourne Legacy' From the Top Spot

The Master, which also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, is Phoenix's first feature film since I'm Still Here, Casey Affleck's spoof 2010 documentary which chronicled Phoenix's supposed retirement from acting to launch a career as a rapper.

BBC: Joaquin Phoenix

Most members of the heist crew are highly enjoyable, including the elderly fraudster Saul played by Carl Reiner, the bickering brothers Turk and Virgil (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck), and the wonderfully camp Mr Big who is bankrolling the job, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould).

BBC: Ocean's 11 is plain sailing

The Echo is a cool little club on the east side of Los Angeles, just grimy enough, with dark blue walls and a crowd that on a recent Monday night included movie stars Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix, bobbing their heads to an all-girl band called The Like.

NPR: No-Cover Mondays: L.A.'s Rock Residency Scene

Affleck, who also co-wrote the script with Aaron Stockard, has cast his younger brother Casey as Kenzie, with Michelle Monaghan (from "Mission: Impossible III") as Genarro.

CNN: Review: 'Gone Baby Gone' is good, very good