June 16, 2008
Delayed for a year following Madeleine McCann's disappearance, Gone Baby Gone bears little resemblance to the real-life story.
A thoughtful crime-thriller-cum-detective story, Gone Baby Gone takes well aimed potshots at the media scrums surrounding bad events. Better still, it poses some keenly ethical dilemmas that director Ben Affleck handles deftly.
Kid-brother Casey Affleck stars as a private detective specialising in missing persons, called in by the grieving family to find a missing daughter. But this is no well-to-do family like Renee Russo and Mel Gibson in Ransom.
Here, the child's mother is neglectful, drunken and selfish. Immediately, audience sympathies are upended - wanting the child to be found but doubting the safety of her home environment.
But nothing's what it seems. And as Casey's quietly down-at-heel detective investigates the low-life, he's equally suspicious of the police. As time passes and hope fades, the film darkens further.
Sporadically violent and with an authentical social feel, Gone Baby Gone is an engrossing, intelligent thriller. The Boston accents can be hard to catch - especially from Casey's drawly delivery - but the sterling support from Michele Monaghan (as Affleck's partner - in all senses) and Morgan Freeman, is solid.
Ben's often criticised for his acting. But he's a very talented writer (Good Will Hunting) and director. And Casey's a superstar in the making (shamefully denied an Oscar for last year's Jesse James).
The Affleck family can be duly proud of its sons: Gone Baby Gone is a high point for both of them. And the ending will run through your mind for ages.
A thoughtful crime-thriller-cum-detective story, Gone Baby Gone takes well aimed potshots at the media scrums surrounding bad events. Better still, it poses some keenly ethical dilemmas that director Ben Affleck handles deftly.
Kid-brother Casey Affleck stars as a private detective specialising in missing persons, called in by the grieving family to find a missing daughter. But this is no well-to-do family like Renee Russo and Mel Gibson in Ransom.
Here, the child's mother is neglectful, drunken and selfish. Immediately, audience sympathies are upended - wanting the child to be found but doubting the safety of her home environment.
But nothing's what it seems. And as Casey's quietly down-at-heel detective investigates the low-life, he's equally suspicious of the police. As time passes and hope fades, the film darkens further.
Sporadically violent and with an authentical social feel, Gone Baby Gone is an engrossing, intelligent thriller. The Boston accents can be hard to catch - especially from Casey's drawly delivery - but the sterling support from Michele Monaghan (as Affleck's partner - in all senses) and Morgan Freeman, is solid.
Ben's often criticised for his acting. But he's a very talented writer (Good Will Hunting) and director. And Casey's a superstar in the making (shamefully denied an Oscar for last year's Jesse James).
The Affleck family can be duly proud of its sons: Gone Baby Gone is a high point for both of them. And the ending will run through your mind for ages.