Gone, Baby, Gone Review
by Jonathan Moya (jjmoya1955 AT yahoo DOT com)October 23rd, 2007
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
A Movie Review by Jonathan Moya
Rating: B+_or 3.5 out of 5
The Review:
Ben Affleck always had a good knowledge of the mechanics of screenwriting and moviemaking. He and his good buddy Matt Damon did win a shared Oscar for best screenplay in 1998 for Good Will Hunting. Their Project Greenlight series, which aired for two seasons on HBO and one on Bravo, specialized in finding talented writers and directors who deserved a shot.
It was just the acting stuff that tripped Affleck up. Dazed and Confused (1993), his big break film, also unfortunately became the mantra for his on screen career. The curriculum vitae for Ben includes six Razzie nominations with one win (for Daredevil) - and another four shared nominations for worst screen couple, two of them while he was still bunking and sharing screen space with J-Lo.
By the time the good notices, golden globe nod and Oscar talk had come in for his portrayal of George Reeves in the who killed TV's Superman mystery Hollywoodland from last year, Affleck had called it quits, had shacked up and committed to the pregnant Jennifer Garner and was in to deep preproduction for his first behind the scenes cinematic child.
And I would like to announce that both the father and child are ok and doing fine, even though the rest of the neighborhood is DOA. Gone Baby Gone is a mystery which queasily shows that it takes a whole piss poor community to abduct a child. The "it takes a village to raise a child" nonsense only applies to the richer burbs.
Any film about corruption should practice what its story preaches and display a little nepotism. So Ben Affleck wisely casts his younger brother Casey in the lead part of Patrick Kenzie.
Kenzie along with his long time professional and carnal partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are a private eye team who specialize in missing person's cases that just need some internet time to solve. Patrick is a Dorchester boy who never left the mainly white South Boston slum when he had the chance. He knows the flow and hustle of every pimp, pusher, pedophile and low life crack head and thief in the yard.
When Amanda McCready, a four year old girl goes missing for three days becoming the latest Amber alert to grab media headlines, the girl's grandmother Bea (Amy Madigan) decides to hire the two to aid the police in the stalled investigation. She desperately hopes that Patrick's connections in the area could pooch up a lead. Reluctantly they take the case when Bea's anguish hits their soft spot.
Amanda's mom Helen (Amy Ryan) is a high volume near alcoholic and almost coke addict who still lives at home and has an almost nonchalant disregard for her missing daughter. She's a straight shooter with a foul mouth and a cynical mind that knows the ways of the world. In this milieu of shadowy motives, that almost counts as a clue.
Amanda and her boyfriend have stumbled upon a satchel containing 130 thousand dollars belonging to the local Haitian drug dealer, Cheese (Boston rapper Ed Gathegi). Helen thinks that Cheese might know who has Amanda. What she doesn't know is that there is a power struggle for the money being waged between the police leading up the investigation (Ed Harris, John Ashton and Morgan Freeman), some on-the-take family members and Cheese-with Amanda as the bargaining chip.
A murky night shootout between them ends with Amanda as the only apparent victim. When a couple of weeks later one of Kenzie's friends hears a hint that Amanda might not be dead, Kenzie follows the trail and learns that it is true. The ending questions whether doing the right thing is really the right thing for Amanda or the accommodation a moral soul must make in order to coexist in an unjust world.
Ben Affleck wisely keeps Gone Baby Gone close to the two things he knows best-Beantown and his brother, Casey.
All the minor roles not subject to union control are filled with regular Dorchies and other natives of South Boston. It doesn't look like there is a single standing set. The authenticity allows Affleck to hone the nuts of the drama.
Dorchester native Dennis Lehane's novels make for an easy celluloid transition. Mystic River made it to the screen with barely a retouch or edit. Gone Baby Gone is Lehane's fourth Patrick and Gennie mystery-- and except for some excised back story and the usual amalgamation of other characters, Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard's screenplay is also pretty much the book.
Mystic River was very much a night film. Clint Eastwood kept it in the shadows, allowing the night to speak for the dark side of its characters. Gone Baby Gone takes place in broad daylight. It is all about not believing and understanding what is happening in front of your eyes. All the clues are plainly there. They are just not recognized until it is almost too late.
Casey Affleck doesn't disappear into his roles. He just does them, without any show. He exudes boyishness, innocence and decency- making him a good choice for Kenzie, whose street toughs are in his head.
Now, if Casey can get control of that oddly soft voice that tails into a slur, he actually might make a decent lead.
The rest of Gone Baby Gone is cast with capable backup players. Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Amy Madigan, Titus Welliver all provide convincing support- and the right amount of misdirection needed.
Amy Ryan as Helene is the standout. Without her brazen welfare mother sincerity, and the proper amount of repulsion-attraction, the morally ambiguous ending of Gone Baby Gone would not have worked.
Ben Affleck has obviously done his homework. In true slacker style he lets the city, the characters, the actors and the Dennis Lehane source all do the heavy lifting. But can he play it again outside of Boston? Affleck has the rest of his life to try to find out.
Gone Baby Gone gets a B+.
The Credits:
With: Casey Affleck (Patrick Kenzie); Michelle Monaghan (Angie Gennaro); Morgan Freeman (Jack Doyle); Ed Harris (Remy Bressant); John Ashton (Nick Poole); Amy Ryan (Helen McCready); Amy Madigan (Bea McCready); Titus Welliver (Lionel McCready); Michael Kenneth Williams (Devin); Edi Gathegi (Cheese)
Directed by Ben Affleck. Screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Produced by Sean Bailey, Dan Rissner and Alan Ladd Jr. Cinematography by John Toll. Sound by Alan Rankin and Jeff Largent. Edited by William C. Goldenberg. Music composed by Harry Gregson Williams. Set designed by George R. Lee. Art direction by Chris Cornwell. Costumes by Alix Friedberg. Produced by Live Planet, Miramax Films, and The Ladd Company. Released by Miramax.
"Gone Baby Gone" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). There are several scenes of intense and bloody violence, and a horrifying subplot involving a pedophile.
Copyright 2007 by Jonathan Moya
www.jonathanmoya.com
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
