Gone Baby Gone

(2007)









Todd Says:

4.5 STARS

Gone Baby Gone is one of those gritty realistic crime dramas that leaves you feeling unsure at the end. It is brutally honest in it's portrayal of real people doing real-life things. The picture painted isn't a pretty one, but I think that that makes it even more poignant.

I highly recommend this movie. Especially if you like dark crime dramas.


Alexis says:

4.75 STARS, OK what the heck, 5 STARS


So it's been a little while but I have finally seen a movie that is worthy of the little time it takes to write a review. Gone Baby Gone has been on my 'to view' list for sometime now but the cost never came down on the DVD at Target, then earlier this week a friend of mine sent us two weeks of Netflix for free and this was the first movie we watched streamed instantly to our television by way of the XBox 360.

I want to begin by saying that I think Casey Affleck is a very talented actor who doesn't get enough roles. He is good in about anything he does, with this film being no exception, but he was far and away the best thing about The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, if you haven't seen that film, I highly recommend it on Affleck's performance alone.

This film being Ben Affleck's first directing of a full length motion picture (apparently there was some short back in 1993, but I'm not sure if that 16 minute film counts) I was intrigued. I liked Ben Affleck (and his brother and just about everything else) in Good Will Hunting, but I don't think he is that great of an actor, but this film, in which he also co-wrote, seemed to get a lot of good press upon it's release.

And after viewing it, I am not surprised. The film feels so real, the shots of the streets of Boston, the people in the film were rough and truly represented the harsh real lives they'd led. Even Harris and Freeman were, if anything, made to look less attractive, less healthy, less lively, than their normal roles. Affleck, who is a private investigator, is hired by the family of a missing 4 year old child and what unfolds in the next 2 hours is weaved so tightly that I didn't want to leave my seat worried I would miss the next turn. Affleck's character as well as other's in the film, are shown to you in subtleties that keep the viewer on their feet to truly understand the moral dilemma facing each of them.

This movie was surprising in just how much I enjoyed it, how I cheered for the protagonist to do the right thing and yet felt his pain in making a difficult 'right' choice. This film is the best film I have seen in a long time for many reasons but the thing I found most pleasing about it was the honesty in the characters, the setting and the storyline. This is a definite must see.