Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, with a hauntingly traumatic film about a child abduction in Boston.
Based on a set of books by Dennis Lehane, Gone Baby Gone is the story of two private detectives who are hired by a missing girl’s family to search the Boston area, and bring her home. Casey Affleck takes the lead role as Patrick Kenzie, a youngish Bostonian, whose street smarts and endless contacts give him something the Boston PD don’t have, cooperation from the community. As Patrick and his partner Angie (Michelle Monaghan) trawl the neighbourhood looking for leads tough, they run into more than their share of trouble, and find themselves facing difficult obstacles that will test their relationship.
Alongside this, decorated police captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) is leading the cop’s search for the girl, and do not take kindly to being subverted by a know-it-all newbie. The plot thicken as the two search parties come towards a promising lead, but nothing is certain in the compellingly heartbreaking story.
Ben Affleck has really done this story justice, avoiding the tendency to run amok with pointless heroism and altruism, he has opted for a more gritty approach, that sees the inner core of several characters displayed on screen, in all their vulgarity. Patrick, whilst the quasi-hero of the film, has several flaws, including a continuous inner struggle between right and wrong (which is the main theme), and our ideas of punishing wrongdoers. Other characters, such as police detective Remy (Ed Harris), display a violent and unrelenting approach to battling crime in Boston, and see their actions as necessary evils.
The film tackles several hard-hitting issues well, such as paedophilia, child abduction, and child cruelty, but does so from a bystander point-of-view, leaving the judgement in the hands of the viewer. As one of the producers of the film states, the film asks more questions than it answers. It will create strong, divided opinions, and allow for further exploration…which is the mark of a good movie.
Great performances, a gripping and emotional story with lots of depth and pathos, and a wonderful debut from Ben Affleck; I highly recommend his second film The Town.
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