Review of "Gone Baby Gone"

Gone Baby Gone is one of those few movies that I had the pleasure of watching with no prior knowledge of. It was recommended to me by a reliable source, so I was able to confidently take the time to see it without the need to spoil anything with a trailer. Naturally I was surprised during the film's opening, when I saw the credits written and directed by Ben Affleck. "This," I thought, "should be very interesting."

It turns out that it was.

I'll start by addressing the directing style. Affleck does a pretty admirable job, considering this is his debut directing a feature film. I was most impressed by was how authentic the city of Boston and many of it's inhabitants felt. There are a few exceptions to this, however, which I feel distracted from this vision. A few of the film's minor villains seem overly exaggerated, and almost cartoony in nature. The fact that they are so obviously being portrayed as villains is likely what gives them this feel. They stand in stark contrast to the character Cheese, who manages to feel menacing and vulnerable at the same time. On the other end of the spectrum, the Hollywood actors that portray the film's "good guys" are so obviously prettier than the people around them that it's actually jarring. Unlike the cartoony villains however, this actually ends up working for the movie, rather than against it, which is an example of the odd nature of the film.

Gone Baby Gone is the best example I've yet seen of a film that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is oddly the film's greatest triumph and weakness. It's characters and plot are interesting enough to hold the audience's attention as the film rolls along, but they aren't revealed to be truly fascinating until the film's final moments. More than once during the viewing, I thought to myself, "where the hell is this going?" It is certainly is in the movie's defense that where it went was a marvelously well crafted analysis on the ambiguity of right and wrong. The film may have been a better representation about the difficulty of choosing between idealism and realism than any I have ever seen. Looking back, it's clear that almost all the moments in the film were carefully orchestrated to make the film's fantastic final moments possible, but it does deter a bit on the whole that the ride there seemed a bit uneven.

I was impressed by Casey Affleck's portrayal of private investigator Patrick Kenzie. Like many aspects of the film Kenzie seemed purposefully out of place. Affleck managed to seem capable, yet in over his head. He's likable and his character's motivations are the only ones in the film that are easy to follow. It helped as an audience member, to know that the protagonist seemed just as baffled by the other characters' motivations as I was.

The most frustrating example of this was Angie Gennaro, played by Michelle Monaghan. Her character has plenty of screen time, and an important role to play in the film, but is given almost no dialogue. To say that Monaghan's performance seemed lacking would be unfair, because she really didn't get the chance to do much but make half self righteous, half pouty faces for the majority of the film, despite the fact that she is both Kenzie's partner and love interest. (Two roles for the price of half of one!) The audience's inability to truly connect with her character is the film's most glaring flaw.

Morgan Freeman (Jack Doyle) and Ed Harris (Remy Bressant) turn in solid yet predictable performances. Really, they were both smart picks for their roles. Freeman is to the young Affleck what Doyle is to Kenzie. You believe it when the elder police officer gives the young PI a look that says, "Watch yourself kid. You may think you're hot $#!*, but I played an African-American Presient before it was cool, Batman's buddy, and God." Freeman's few scenes are well set up and hard hitting. Harris' character Bressant is a decent but uncompromising pseudo role-model for Kenzie, but sadly the film doesn't have much time to examine the relationship just when it starts getting really interesting.

The soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams is one that does it's job suitably without drawing much attention to itself. It is beautiful in it's simplicity and supports the movie well, but its a bit more difficult to recommend as a complete standalone purchase. I rate the film's soundtrack a 7 out of 10.

Gone Baby Gone was a pleasant surprise. It approaches greatness. It doesn't quite reach it, but it approaches it. So it turns out Ben Affleck is a bit of an auteur, and not a bad one at that. I hope to see him return to the directing chair in the future. I'm also glad to know that Good Will Hunting wasn't a fluke. Casey Affleck was fun to see in a starring role, and I hope to see him thrive as an actor. He seems to have a lot to offer, although there is a good possibility that, like his older brother, his charm could diminish the further he drifts from his roots.

Gone Baby Gone is a poignant and masterfully presented example of the gray areas of morality. It succeeds as The Dark Knight did, in showing it's audience that standing for an ideal costs much and does not always end with a clear cut victory. Though some parts are uneven, and the film doesn't truly shine until it's ending, it succeeds in examining one of life's most difficult issues, and leaves any thinking audience member reevaluating the nature of right and wrong. This, as well as the film's beautiful portrayal of the underbelly of Boston, lifts the film above any standard detective fare, and earns my rating of 9 out of 10.