Movie Review
Gone Baby Gone
Ben Affleck has had his ups and downs as an actor, but let's not forget that this guy won an Oscar for co-writing "Good Will Hunting" with his buddy, Matt Damon. Now, Affleck gets a shot at directing and returns to his old stomping grounds of Boston in "Gone Baby Gone."
A four-year-old girl disappears from her home. Her mother is a drug addict and alcoholic, and swears more than a drunken sailor. The police, led by Captain Doyle, (played by Morgan Freeman), have turned up nothing after three days. The little girl's aunt, (played by Amy Madigan), hires private detective Patrick Kenzie, (Casey Affleck), to help because he knows the neighborhood and can get people to talk to him that won't talk to the police.
Kenzie works alongside two police detectives, (Ed Harris and Josh Ashton), and he brings some new information to them that takes the case in a different direction. One that will have dire consequences for them all.
"Gone Baby Gone" is a solid drama, that keeps the audience guessing throughout the film. Ben Affleck does a fine job his first time out of the gate at directing. It's not a great movie, but I've seen much worse from actors turned directors.
Casey Affleck is fairly believable as a private detective. It's revealed early in the film that his character looks young for his age and that he's usually hired to find "missing" people that have "skipped out on their jet ski payments." So he's not playing some seasoned private eye.
Michelle Monaghan plays his girlfriend/partner, but I'm not really sure what she brings to the private detective table. However, her character seems to be one of the only people in the film that doesn't need to swear every-other word and calls things like she sees them.
Ed Harris as Detective Remy Bressant, does a good job of keeping us guessing about his character, but Harris seems to be playing too many similar roles these days. It would be nice to see him change things up a bit, like he did in the early 1990s.
Morgan Freeman brings his "A" game, as usual, with a somewhat subdued performance as Captain Jack Doyle - a father that has lost a child to violent crime and has vowed to spare any parent from going through what he went through. I only wish that he had more screen time.
While "Gone Baby Gone" is a worthwhile film, it doesn't need to be seen on the big screen. So, it gets a "Wait for the DVD" review from me.
Article Source: Marc_Bowker
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