GONE BABY GONE

RATING 4

(Director: Ben Affleck, R, 114 min)

Amanda McCready (Madeline O’Brien) is missing. You know because every channel on the Boston news is interviewing her mom, Helen McCready (Amy Ryan) and her incredibly distraught Aunt Beatrice (Amy Madigan). Everyone is searching for the beautiful missing child, the efforts of a special task force are led by Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) but they are not moving fast enough for Bea. She drags her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver) to a local investigator to get some assistance with the "neighborhood element".

Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his partner Angie (Michelle Monaghan) have slightly different opinions about taking the case but are compelled to do the right thing. They makes some inquires around and see that there may be more to this than child abduction. They are allowed to go with detectives Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Aston) when they follow up with Helen (crack ho – who should be banned from most living things, not just her child) about some of her extra curricular activities.

Ben Affleck does a wonderful job with material that is not for the light-minded. It would be easy to miss the subtleties of the characters if a director didn’t have a clear vision and have that translate to the actors. It helps that the cast is dynamic and very talented. Casey delivers the performance of his career and moves his credibility up from one of the strong supporting roles to viable lead. Ed Harris brings his intensity to this piece and is believable in his volatile choices. The ensemble cast gives a collective solid performance.

Dennis Lehane novels are rich and dark explorations and they have captured the feel of his work in this adaptation. The movie does seem to have multiple places where it’s summing up and you think wow, it’s over; just to have the next scene start down a different path. While this is effective in building tension and having the audience rethink what the "right" move will be, it’s annoying when the real ending is not very Hollywood and you’re sitting in the theatre wanting them to tag on one more ending on the off chance that it won’t be as bleak. This story brings up a lot of moral questions about what is in whose best interest and who gets to decide? What wins out – truth, justice, or the right thing? You’ll just have to see.

© 2007 Miramax Films - All rights reserved

Movie Chick Leigh Ann:
"It may piss you off a little but it will engage you - 4."


Movie Chick Cherryl:
"This takes you on a roller coaster of emotions and you’re not ready to get off when the ride is over – 4."