Publications
Partners
What it's about:
Boston detectives Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are hired to find a missing child by her uncle. At first it seems the case is linked to the girl's drug addicted mother (Amy Ryan) and her shady associates, but the more they dig, the more they realise that nobody is innocent.
What we thought of it:
Gone Baby Gone is an extremely gritty and extremely compelling mystery with more than a few nods to golden age detective TV and movies.
Hollywood pretty boy Ben Affleck takes a position behind the camera for a change and has produced something with far more substance than his usual projects. Could this be the birth of Ben Affleck the indie director? We can only hope.
The characters are rough, ugly and most importantly human. The acting is excellent across the board and never once are you left feeling that you are watching stars reciting lines. Amy Ryan is particularly vile and trashy as the negligent cokehead mother, yet we can't help feeling for her. Casey Affleck also pulls off a weighty performance as a tortured soul trying to cling to his values in the face of horror.
It's the kind of low key story the Coen Brothers favour, only Affleck's film is more concerned with the morality and choices behind the acts than the punch line pay offs of the various plot twists, of which there are many. One criticism: the constant, heavy-handed use of flashbacks drags the film down and detracts from its great pace and high standard of acting.
But overall, Gone Baby Gone is a good mystery thriller. It's well paced and exciting while remaining entirely believable and will make you think. What more could you ask?
- Ivan Sadler
Boston detectives Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are hired to find a missing child by her uncle. At first it seems the case is linked to the girl's drug addicted mother (Amy Ryan) and her shady associates, but the more they dig, the more they realise that nobody is innocent.
What we thought of it:
Gone Baby Gone is an extremely gritty and extremely compelling mystery with more than a few nods to golden age detective TV and movies.
Hollywood pretty boy Ben Affleck takes a position behind the camera for a change and has produced something with far more substance than his usual projects. Could this be the birth of Ben Affleck the indie director? We can only hope.
The characters are rough, ugly and most importantly human. The acting is excellent across the board and never once are you left feeling that you are watching stars reciting lines. Amy Ryan is particularly vile and trashy as the negligent cokehead mother, yet we can't help feeling for her. Casey Affleck also pulls off a weighty performance as a tortured soul trying to cling to his values in the face of horror.
It's the kind of low key story the Coen Brothers favour, only Affleck's film is more concerned with the morality and choices behind the acts than the punch line pay offs of the various plot twists, of which there are many. One criticism: the constant, heavy-handed use of flashbacks drags the film down and detracts from its great pace and high standard of acting.
But overall, Gone Baby Gone is a good mystery thriller. It's well paced and exciting while remaining entirely believable and will make you think. What more could you ask?
- Ivan Sadler
