Drug dealers, broken families, shattered dreams and no hope within an arm's length define the mean streets of Dorchester, Boston in Gone, Baby, Gone, a film that illuminates all of these aspects, producing a crime-driven thriller full of intensity and suspense.
When four-year-old Amanda McCready goes missing right out of her bedroom, her mother, Helene McCready (Amy Ryan, Before the Devil Knows Your Dead), a cocaine addict and alcoholic, waits around slovenly for the police to find her daughter.
Meanwhile, her sister Beatrice, or B, played by Amy Madigan (Winter Passing), hires missing-person private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck, Ocean's Thirteen) and Angela Genarro (Michelle Monaghan, The Heartbreak Kid).
The couple is forced to work alongside Detectives Remy Bressant (Ed Harris, Cleaner) and Nick Poole (John Ashton, Sweet Deadly Dreams), who offer little more than disapproval at the young team. This sentiment is echoed by Chief of Police Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman, The Bucket List).
Gone is Ben Affleck's directorial debut, co-writing the screenplay, as well. The director shows audiences the city of Boston from a brutally realistic point of view, shooting his characters tight and close up, giving the viewer little room to breath. The intensity he draws out of the actors keeps the movie going and has already earned considerable Oscar buzz.
Acting is nothing new to Casey Affleck, who has previously worked with brother Ben in such films as Good Will Hunting and 200 Cigarettes. Affleck's portrayal of Patrick is reserved yet powerful, the protagonist's dedication to finding this little girl is written all over his wordless face in many scenes. This may be the young actor's year, earning kudos playing alongside a broken Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, as well. As the plot twists and turns, almost as violently as the crimes themselves, Affleck is unflinching, handling each problem logically, even when logic fails to provide a straight answer. Rarely has such a morally sound character been so conflicted.
Oscar winner Freeman executes a harder-than-usual take on his stereotypical character, presenting an intense portrayal of his police chief and the demons rolling around inside him. After years of consistency, Freeman has yet to let his audience down and continues to be the powerful actor he was years ago.
Ed Harris does a remarkable job in the film - easily his best movie yet. His work alongside Freeman and the Affleck brothers proves an intelligent career move, bringing Harris back to his tough-guy roots, harkening back to films such as State of Grace and The Firm.
For moviegoers who crave murder, mystery and drama not brought down by the usual Hollywood rules and regulations, this film promises to deliver. While the movie pulls the viewer in many different directions and may get out of hand in some of its plot turns, it all comes together - the sum of its parts equaling far more than the parts alone.
By the film's end, the viewer is pushed into a corner and forced to consider the morality and necessity of vital character decisions. Director Affleck's ambition and confidence in making the film as uncomfortable as it needs to be shows a considerable amount of maturity from a guy who once wore a red leather suit and fake devil horns.
Affleck fuses thriller, action and drama genres together perfectly, giving his audience a wonderfully powerful, intense and emotional film that makes one leave the theater more aware, more knowledgeable and most importantly, thinking about what was just seen.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
