Gone Baby Gone (2007): Based on the Dennis Lehane novel about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl’s kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.This is the directorial debut by Ben Affleck, who does not appear in this film at all. Instead his brother Casey is the lead, and both brothers do a very good job.
The structure of this story is a little bit unusual to me. It first builds the case Patrick is hired for, it presents all the characters involved and it gives us an ending halfway through. That’s already a surprise.
Once that’s done, we get an action scene that brings us a moral question, and I think this is the main point of the film. What is the right thing to do? This question comes back again towards the end, when Patrick finally finds out the truth.
This was a reveal much like any other crime/detective story we’ve seen, but I thought the plot was very well thought out and the flashback scenes were filmed very well so that once we learn the truth it made sense.
I really loved the way the moral question was answered, Patrick knew the consequences of his decision and we were also told very clearly. But this being a Hollywood movie I was afraid we’d get some form of hope at the end. Instead we get what we’re supposed to get. Ben Affleck did not bail at the end, he went all the way through.
All the performances were excellent, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, even Michelle Monaghan. Casey Affleck was the star though, even though sometimes he mumbles and I can hardly make out what he’s saying.
This is definitely a movie people should check out without preconceptions. Ben Affleck surprised me and I can’t wait for his next project.
Rating: 4 Stars