Gone Baby Gone Review

I didn't know much about Gone Baby Gone when I got it from Netflix, only that it was directed by Ben Affleck and that maybe Matt Damon had something to do with it. The film is actually Ben Affleck's debut as a director, and the lead character (Patrick Kenzie) is played by Casey Affleck, Ben's brother.

Gone Baby Gone is a story about a missing four-year-old girl who may or may not be kidnapped. The child's mother (played superbly by Amy Ryan) quickly turns out to be chillingly unfit and the girl could be anywhere... including dead. Patrick Kenzie and his girlfriend/partner Angie (played by Michelle Monaghan) are hired to look into the disappearance, since they have better neighborhood contacts than the police. As they wade further and further into the swamp of the case, things never are what they first appear to be. As the case develops, Patrick and Michelle find their relationship increasingly strained.

Are the police helping or misleading? Is the little girl dead or alive? Is it all about a heist from a slimy drug dealer? The final solution is quite a twist that demands a healthy suspension of disbelief on the part of the viewer but is nevertheless thought-provoking.

The film doesn't quite play fair with the viewer, as it dishes up red herrings that say things that implicate them... only to have them be completely uninvolved in the girl's disappearance. On the other hand, there is a complex conspiracy afoot that hides the real crime. In the middle of all this is the girl's mother, Helene, who is about as unfit (and unsympathetic) as a mother can get. Yet she is the mother. Does a child always belong with his/her mother? As the case peels back layer by layer, this question becomes central to the motives of the characters.

All the actors are terrific, even if Michelle Monaghan as Angie doesn't have much to do. Ben Affleck's direction is gritty without being overly showy -- it's a fine debut. However, the standout in my mind is Amy Ryan as the mother with a heart of crack. She was both scary and moving. The ending is correctly ambiguous and it leads to a great conversation about the rights of parents vs. the rights of children.

I enjoyed Gone Baby Gone, even though I felt it played a little fast and loose with the information it gave the viewer to solve the whodunit. There is no nudity in the film but it has the roughest language I've heard in a long time. If you get this movie, be prepared for VERY strong language. There is also some graphic violence including a brutal murder that not only goes unpunished, it gets praised. All in all, Gone Baby Gone deserves its R rating.

I liked this movie. It is fast moving, gritty, thoughtful and entertaining. Shot on location in Boston, it looks  and sounds like Boston in a way that a film shot in Vancouver never will. However, if you dislike rough language in films, you will not like Gone Baby Gone. Just keep that in mind.