Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Starring:

Casey Affleck

Michelle Monaghan

Amy Ryan

Ed Harris

Morgan Freeman

Gone Baby Gone (I know I may be 2 years late on this) is an outstanding thriller and drama. First-time director Ben Affleck gives a gritty tale of heartbreak and loss with thought-provoking and difficult choices.

A little girl named Amanda has gone missing from her South Boston neighborhood. The community rallies in front of news cameras expressing their condolences. After three days pass, Amanda's passionate aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) decides to find help outside of Boston’s finest.

She and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver) approach inexperienced private detectives (and lovers) Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) to assist in the search of her niece. Bea hopes to tap Patrick's pulse of the neighborhood and the people who inhabit it to aid in Amanda’s recovery. Affleck's brooding performance, highlighted by his quiet intensity and conflict, drives the movie. Monaghan is just as convincing in her role as a tough woman with a soft heart. The chemistry between the two is unmistakable.

So where is the mother? Well, Helene McCready (portrayed powerfully by Amy Ryan) is the bad mother, drug addict, the maternal villain, anything but an exemplary mother. However, she is a complex woman who is constantly at war with her addiction, excuses and the love for her child. You will find her to be a polarizing figure that, in the end, will evoke the entire spectrum of emotion from your heart. From being insolent to the police, to sobbingly pleading for the help to find her daughter, Ryan gives a taut and intense performance.

Despite the inexperience and the reluctance of Angie, Patrick takes the job.

Leading the investigation is Captain John Doyle (Morgan Freeman), the head of the missing children division. Freeman, known for his consistently convincing work, seemed detached from his character and did not give a performance that stands up to his reputation. Captain Doyle's detectives, Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton) are the officers in the field that assist Patrick and Angie. Harris' performance is raw and edgy as temperamental detective Bressant.

Ben Affleck's directorial debut is one that is worthy of its praises., despite the slight choppiness in the story and plot. Being a Boston native, his knowledge of the environment is shown through his cinematography. His shots of real Boston neighborhoods and the casting Boston natives gives this movie authenticity. Boston is truly one of the stars of the film.

The story is a harsh one that deals with many tangible and intangible plights, but one umbrella theme: morality. The paradox of the human soul is dissected in many of the conflicts that arise in this film. All of the characters in this film make decisions that they believe is right. Decisions that will resonate like a pebble dropped in a lake.

Ben Affleck’s screenplay has an abundant of themes wrapped within this story of deception, corruption, loss, misguided intentions and the realization of the difficulty of choosing sides. You will find that, through this smartly adapted screenplay, the notion of “right” is different to every person in this story.

Gone Baby Gone may be, on the surface, a missing child's story. However, its lurid subject matter is just the backdrop in this gripping study of the human soul and the costs of doing the "right thing".