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Gone
Baby Gone
(2007)
In one of the year's most satisfying surprises,
actor-cum-director Ben Affleck sends forth an impressive
example of a well-crafted crime drama with his adaptation of
Dennis Lehane's novel Gone Baby Gone. I've been a
frequent skeptic of movie stars stepping behind the camera,
and even with Affleck's screenwriting Oscar for Good Will
Hunting,
I saw the word "hack" coming a mile away when this film first
showed up on my radar. I couldn't have been more wrong. Affleck's
directorial debut is successful in just about every way, and
proves my preconceptions of the directing abilities of actors
wrong for a second time this year.
Similar to the most recent Lehane adaptation, Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated Mystic River, the film centers on a South Boston community torn apart by the kidnapping of a child. When four-year-old Amanda McCready goes missing from her second-floor bedroom, her worried aunt (Amy Madigan) seeks the help of private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) to fill in the gaps in the police department's case. Paired with two missing-persons detectives (Ed Harris & John Ashton), the couple set out to take on drug-dealers, pedophiles, and a corrupt police system in order to save young Amanda's life. Before it's all over, though, both Kenzie and Gennaro will be forced to confront their own morals and beliefs, with stakes much higher than they ever anticipated.
In many ways, Gone Baby Gone is the embodiment of noir in the 21st Century. Visually, it doesn't rely on harsh lighting or high contrast as one would expect from the genre, but the harsh examination of the evil men do and the vast contrast in the moral landscape more than firmly place the film within the established noir conventions. The fact that the film is perhaps a bit too bright and colorful for the gritty subject matter is at times distracting and discongruous, but that's really the only technical or artistic flaw in the film. Between this and Mystic River, it's not a stretch to call Lehane the modern Raymond Chandler, and this examination of mankind's depravity and one man's determination to make things right ranks as highly as any of the noir-master's most famous works.
Here the Affleck brothers both come into their
own and dually shine as the stars of the film, behind and before
the lens. For Casey, this is not only his first starring role (other than Gus
Van Sant's little-seen Gerry), but also a clear break from his usual
comedic fare (like Soderbergh's various Ocean's numbers). Between
this and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,
for which he received an Oscar nomination, it took little time for him to step
out from his elder brother's looming shadow.
He's not alone in delivering a standout
performance, however, as the cast is well-rounded throughout. Most notable
are Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman, who play cops on the extremes of the spectrum, but share the same scene-stealing qualities that made them both famous. Perhaps the most memorable performance comes from character actress Amy Ryan, whose portrayal of Amanda's mother Helene is both enraging and heartbreaking to watch. She at once evokes frustration at her drug addiction and sympathy at her sense of loss. She more than deserves her Oscar nomination and I wouldn't be upset to see her take home gold.
While stylistically and artistically little more than a gripping crime thriller, Gone
Baby Gone is a damned good one at that! It's
hard to believe such a solid film has come from one of Hollywood's pretty-boy
actors, but Affleck could easily become the next Sean Penn, making a substantial
transition into directing from an already established acting career. This film
won't change the way movies are made or go down in history as the pinnacle of
greatness, but it's a solid film, and will certainly entertain, and left me thinking
about its deeper implications long after the lights came back up.
-Mark
Moreland
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All contents ©
2004-2009 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
Ben
Affleck
Writer: Ben
Affleck & Aaron Stockard, Denis Lehane
Starring: Casey
Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Amy Ryan, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman,
Amy Madigan
Distributor: Miramax
Films
Runtime: 114
min
Rating: R
Release Date: October
19, 2007
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