Gone Baby Gone movie review

Go Colts...they put on a dominating performance last night. Hey national media...the Colts are not a finesse team anymore...they will pound the ball and pound the other team.

On to the review...

New in theaters this week was Gone Baby Gone (R). Casey Affleck
stars as a private detective brought into investigate the abduction of a
child in a Boston neighborhood. Morgan Freeman, Ed Harriss, and
Michelle Monaghan costar. Ben Affleck co wrote and directs.

Ryan: The fall movie season continues its string of strong films with this week's Gone Baby Gone. Let me just first say that the movie is not flawless. It has its issues. With that said, Gone Baby Gone is one of those rare films where the movie's strengths almost completely overshadow its weaknesses. In fact the end of Gone Baby Gone is utterly fascinating--in terms of the moral dilemma faced by Casey Affleck's character. Most Hollywood films, in terms of their ethics, are black and white but Gone Baby Gone takes a bucket of gray paint and dumps it all over itself. It's willingness to be so open to interpretation makes Gone Baby Gone a cut above most crime dramas.

Andy: Perhaps I was being a little judgmental here, but I never would have pegged Ben Afleck as the next Hollywood star to try his hand at directing. And even if someone had told me that, I wouldn't have dreamed that it would have been a successful try. But he has succeeded I his directorial debut. Gone Baby, Gone is an interesting, gritty, and entertaining film. It is not a fantastic piece of work, but it it a pretty good one, especially if you like crime dramas.

Ryan: I/m not anti-Ben Affleck like a lot of other movie critics but even I must admit that Ben Affleck-- the director--was not something I had prepared myself for. Truth-be-told, Affleck does a commendable job for his debut. He captures the ugliness and righteousness of inner-city Boston. He elicits fine performances from his cast (especially from his younger brother) and he masterfully handles the climax of the film with relation to Casey;s existential dilemma. This isn't Orson Welles with Citizen Kane or even Quentin Taratino with Reservoir Dogs but nonetheless--for a director's first film, Gone Baby Gone is quite an accomplishment and shows that Affleck has the talent and ability to be a serious Hollywood director.

Andy: The strength of Gone Baby Gone, and the most exciting aspect of Affleck's direction, is the atmosphere of the movie. Most of the film takes place at non-glamorous locations, and Affleck does not try to make them seem in any way majestic. He has given them a very clear reality with great attention to detail. Unfortunately, such stark realism accentuates how ridiculous the plot gets at times. The moral dilemma a that occurs at the end of the movie is, indeed, interesting, but the leaps the story must take to get us there don't won't sit too well with some viewers.

Ryan: Like I said earlier, the movie is not faultless. I haven't read the book but I'm guessing Affleck had to streamline much of the book to squeeze it into an acceptable running time. Unfortunately that makes the movie quite uneven at times especially the transition from the first to second act. Secondly, like Andy says, the twists toward the end of the movie might throw some moviegoers off in terms of their absurdity and contriteness. Depending on how much a moviegoer suspends their disbelief will go a long way in whether or not they like or dislike the film.

Andy: It wouldn't be fair to talk about this movie without mentioning the acting. Ben has thrown his little brother Casey a big bone with this leading role, and Casey does okay with it. He has proven to be an adept actor, but I don't know how often I need to see him in a lead role. Morgan Freeman did an acceptable job, which in recent years is about the best we can expect from him. But the real highlight here is the menacing Ed Harris. I'm not much of a Harris fan, but he does the tough-guy thing exceptionally well in this movie.

Gone Baby Gone is pretty solid attempt at a graphic, exciting crime drama. It is a little jumpy and not without other faults, but it is generally encouraging enough to earn a B+.