Movie Review: Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone is a film adaptation of the novel by Denis Lehane. It was written by Ben Affleck and his friend Aaron Stockard. It's also Affleck's directorial debut. If Affleck's hands all over this frightens you, you should also know it stars his kid brother Casey. It's also one of the best movies I've seen this year.

Amanda is a four year-old girl who went missing in Boston three days ago; the police and media are all over it. Amanda's aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) and uncle Lionel (Titus Welliver) hire two private detectives, Affleck as Patrick Kenzie and his girlfriend Angie Gennaro played by Michelle Monaghan, to augment the police's efforts. They can talk to people that won't talk to the police. Apparently Boston has some policy that the police will cooperate with them as the head of the Crimes Against Children police task force (Morgan Freeman) begrudgingly assigns Det. Remy Bressan (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton) to cooperate. There are a lot of reservations on all sides but soon they cooperate. It turns out Amanda's mother Helene (Amy Ryan) is a drug addict and not the best of mothers. The investigation leads to drug dealers and to bars with surly regulars and to nastier things.

About a half hour into the film I turned to my sister and said this "made every other movie I've seen look like Hollywood". The atmosphere seemed genuine. Sets looked like real homes, streets and bars. Extras seems like people on a street, not out of work models. The language is rough and the violence is fierce, though not gratuitous. The characters face interesting dilemmas but this is a plot-based film.

For those that care about such things, the plot works. I did not figure out the mystery though several hints registered, I just ignored them. Ebert said "I am grateful when a movie springs something on me, and I feel rewarded, not tricked" and I completely agree. I was engaged the whole film and cared about the plot and the characters. There were parts, particularly in the second half, where it was a little difficult to follow things, but it wasn't for long and I was able to catch up again soon.

A lot has been said of Casey Affleck's performance and it is very strong. He pulls off tough, sensitive, clever, scared, self-righteous, self-doubting, and more. Ed Harris is always great, as is Morgan Freeman, who thankfully doesn't narrate this film. If you're a fan of HBO's The Wire (and you should be), Michael K. Williams (Omar) makes a brief appearance.

I had heard good things but my expectations were low. I was really pleasantly surprised with well done interesting detective story. Well worth seeing.