Film/DVD Review
Title: Gone Baby Gone
Studio: Miramax
Directed By: Ben Affleck
Principal Actors: Casey Affleck, Megan Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Maddigan, Amy Ryan
DVD Release: Feb 12^th 2008
Length: 114 Minutes
Rating: Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language.

4 ½ Stars 

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Exactly one decade ago Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were awarded Oscars for Good Will Hunting. Since then Affleck has produced thirteen films, made a fortune (but less acclaim) acting in blockbuster hits, and directed a short film and now his first feature-length film Gone Baby Gone. We knew what to expect of Ben Affleck as an actor, we knew what to expect of Ben Affleck as a writer, but did we know what to expect of him as a director? If you suspected Affleck had hidden depths, he would have met your expectations as a director, but if you were the other 95% of the population who underestimated his capabilities (how much of Good Will Hunting did Ben write you may have queried in the last decade?) you would have to eat some chocolate shoes right about now.

Ben Affleck directs his younger brother Casey, in a stunning performance as Patrick Kenzie, a young married man who has just started a private eye service in Boston with his wife Angie Gennaro (Megan Monaghan). When four-year old Amanda McCready goes missing, and her Aunt, Bea McCready (Amy Madigan) wants some answers as to where she has gone, she asks Patrick and Angie to find her. This is the couple's first big case and they question whether they have decided wisely to take on such a public disappearance. Patrick and Angie are assisted by a reluctant Missing Persons specialist in the Police Force, Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), and two of his detectives Nick Poole (John Ashton) and Remy Bressant (Ed Harris). Everything seems to fit into place, Amanda's Mother, Helene McCready (Amy Ryan) is a cocaine addict and she stole a pile of money from a drug-dealer, but when her boyfriend turns up tortured and dead, she's willing to take the situation of her lost daughter more seriously. Now the exchange needs to happen between the bag of money for Amanda, only something goes wrong and Amanda is lost. Amy grieves for Amanda, and Patrick feels it is his fault for what happened.         

However, you are only forty minutes into the film and you have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't an hour long film. Patrick digs deeper and finds one truth, then he digs deeper and finds another truth, then Patrick digs even deeper and must come face to face with a decision equivalent to that of a mythic tragedian. The twist in this film will have the audience questioning the issues long after the show is over.

Gone Baby Gone is a richly layered film, based on a book by author Dennis Lehane who also penned Mystic River. The story intricately examines human character on all levels, whereas the film experience allows you the ugly truths of a world in which we live to be examined under the stark light of day. Ben Affleck doesn't shy away from these truths, he gives Boston a personality most won't have seen and many won't understand but will be fascinated by. I found the swearing at the beginning a little hyper-absorbing, but as the film progressed, so did the language become less in your face, indicating that the vernacular was establishing environment at the start of the film. Affleck gets out of the way of the actors craftsmanship as a director, allowing his brother Casey and all the rest of the cast to perform at their best. Affleck clearly sees that the directing is the vehicle, but the driver is the acting in Gone Baby Gone. He has no ego in this regard, which makes a better film all around.

I think Casey will be the one in the family to win an Oscar for best actor one day (and it might even be because a script his brother wrote or a film his brother directed) as he puts in a complex performance in Gone Baby Gone. Where Patrick goes, so does the audience; if Patrick gets lost, so do we. Megan Monaghan was incredibly good and the usual suspects of stellar performing came from Freeman, Harris and Maddigan. Amy Ryan is getting kudos for her performance as a selfish Mother with a crisis of conscience. Ed Harris is simply unquantifiable in every performance he ever gives (yes, we include Milk Money in this assessment), he is blissfully undecipherable in Gone Baby Gone.

In the Special Features Ben Affleck expresses that the film is about responsible parenting, and in another interview on the Special Features Lehane explains that we, as a society, are under-protecting our children, in fact he protests ‘we aren't even in the ball park when it comes to protecting our kids.' Surprisingly, what Affleck and Lehane are talking about, responsible and safe parenting, is a crucial subject matter in this day and age that is simply not being addressed. So many topics are discussed exhaustedly that have no importance, and some like what Gone Baby Gone deals with, are being entirely swept under the rug. On that level alone, Lehane, Affleck (either one) and anyone else involved in this film should be commended for discussing the subject. It is not my greatest desire to see crime fiction, mystery fiction, or legal thrillers in any form, but when a film is done so well, and the content of the story is so relevant, it does not matter what category the film is first sequestered into. Gone Baby Gone is a profound film, simple as that.

The DVD special features include commentary by director Ben Affleck and writer Aaron Stockhard, extended ending, deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Ben Affleck and writer Aaron Stockhard, behind the scenes featurette, casting featurette.