I watched Gone Baby Gone over the weekend. Boy am I glad my wife didn’t watch it with me.
See, my wife really only likes light romantic comedies (think Meg Ryan). This movie is anything but light. A Boston white trash mother ’s 4 year old daughter is abducted, and Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan, a shacking-up couple of private detectives, are hired by the mother’s sister-in-law (and brother) to find her.
Lots of twists and turns I won’t spoil, but it’s very harrowing and creepy, and stays with you. The movie ends with a strong moral dilemma as well, and while I agreed with the male protagonist’s choice, I can definitely understand why many, many people would not. Kind of like the debate over Elian Gonzales, it’s really hard to decide what’s best for the child in this situation. There’s really no good answers here.
The pacing was good, things remained believable, and never over-the-top. The acting was very good as well. Morgan Freeman is always top-notch, and Ed Harris was also very good. I’ve never seen Casey Affleck or Michelle Monaghan perform before, but they did a great job with the very dark material and the internal struggles going with the external ones. Amy Ryan as the mother is so convincing as a strung-out loser of a mom that she was nominated for an Academy Award and won many other awards, as did Ben Affleck who directed (his directorial debut).
I give it 3 stars out of 4.
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