1. Morally ambiguous crime dramas and neo-noirs are both critically and commercially popular right now. Think, Zodiac, The Brave One, No Country for Old Men, and The Departed.
2. Films are more frequently set in Boston, where people are angry, sometimes difficult to understand (which may be why they’re so angry), and can barely utter a sentence without spewing a chain of curses (which always only makes people angrier). Think Good Will Hunting and The Departed.
3. Ben Affleck (and, it would appear, his brother Casey) and Matt Damon love to make movies about Boston in all its gritty glory. Think … every single movie they make! … Okay, maybe just Good Will Hunting and The Departed, but it seems like every movie they make is about Boston.
**Disclaimer: If the reader is from Boston or identifies with the city, please don’t take offense at this review. I know you’re probably angry, but is this review really the only reason you’re angry? Be honest. You just need a little vacation from Boston. I understand; it seems like a very angry place.**
I don’t know if this film makes the greatest pitch for moving a family to Boston, but it’s certainly a respectable pitch for the brothers Affleck and crew.
The Movie
The movie follows private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), who conveniently happen to be romantically involved in addition to being professional partners (although it’s difficult to say which came first), as they investigate the disappearance of a little girl from her Boston home. Kenzie and Gennaro are hired by the girl’s family to cover the neighborhood aspect of the investigation, as many locals are unwilling to cooperate with the police department.
During the investigation, the duo has to contend with hostile elements of the local criminal and drug undergrounds, skeptical police detectives, and, ultimately, the corruption of various agents involved in the case.
Overall, there is nothing extraordinary about the story or the acting, but that doesn’t mean that the film isn’t worth your time. The film does justice to the gritty reality that is the city of Boston, and the story carries equal shares of action and concept/theme. Some of the issues of emphasis are the media’s (sometimes-biased) coverage of salacious child abductions, the public’s interest in scandals more than in human elements, and bureaucratic corruption. Relatable themes include the coming-of-age story of Kenzie and the struggles of multiple characters to effect justice in morally complex and multi-faceted situations.
Again, the acting doesn’t stand out as exceptional, but each actor/actress holds his/her own. Affleck, Monaghan, Ed Harris, and Titus Welliver do well enough conveying their characters’ inner conflicts and complex moral/emotional situations, but neither the characters nor the acting succeeds extraordinarily. (Ironically, despite the Afflecks’ roots in Boston, a friend of mine from Massachusetts tells me that Affleck’s Boston dialect is unauthentic, as if he lost his accent while away and couldn’t quite get it back for this role.) Amy Ryan has received the most critical acclaim for her portrayal of drug addict and distraught mother Helene McCready, and, indeed, her character’s intricacy comes across well, but I, personally, wasn’t particularly struck by her character. Finally, I was a little disappointed with Morgan Freeman’s role. It seemed that his talent wasn’t fully tapped, and although his character had depth, the level of development didn’t suit Freeman’s potential.
Unfortunately, with much of the action frontloaded, the movie also seems a bit anticlimactic, and while the story unfolds with several twists throughout, the story arc finishes a bit too predictably to be satisfying. However, the morally ambiguous and unconventional, not-so-happy ending appropriately maintain the conflicted and true-to-life tone of the movie, and although it’s a bit unclear how the audience is supposed to interpret the ending, this vagueness is most likely intentional and makes the movie resonate more thoroughly by forcing the viewer to see the complexities of the story and of the characters’ choices.
Special Features
If you’re a fan of the book on which the film is based or of Ben Affleck, I would suggest watching the ‘Going Home: Behind the Scenes with Ben Affleck’ feature, which focuses on Affleck as a director and includes segments from an interview with the author of the original book, Dennis Lehane (who also wrote Mystic River), as he talks about the screen adaptation. Some of the film’s major themes are also discussed.
And if you’re from Boston, you might like the ‘Capturing Authenticity: Casting Gone Baby Gone’ feature, which explores the Boston setting and the use of local non-actors to fill several smaller roles throughout the film. There are also interviews with the actors, who discuss the major roles and multiple layers of the primary characters.
The deleted scenes are worth your time regardless of which aspects of the film draw you’re interest most. They primarily add a little more depth to Affleck’s character and a couple of them emphasize the relationship between Affleck and Monaghan’s characters. As the movie stands, the dynamics of their relationship are largely implied, but these deleted scenes add weight to their relationship and reveal its importance to each. Finally, the alternative ending deserves a watch. It contains no extraordinary revelations, but it’s enlightening enough to be worth the time.
If you really like the film, you can watch it and/or the deleted scenes with commentary by writer/director Ben Affleck and writer Aaron Stockard.
Presentation
There’s nothing spectacular upon which to remark regarding the DVD presentation, but, again, it’s not a bad setup. While it’s disappointing to see moving video only on the main menu and the separate menu for deleted scenes seems a bit superfluous, the dark and monochrome coloring and the music, especially, of the various menus fit the tone of the movie well and help establish the film’s mood even before it begins.
Overall
Gone Baby Gone probably won’t blow you away or make you completely reevaluate your moral perspective, but its gritty and true-to-life portrayal of complex issues and situations is compelling enough to warrant your viewing. The movie has an appropriate balance of action and concept, and although the end seems a bit anticlimactic in light of the frontloaded action content, the story is intricate enough to maintain interest throughout. There’s nothing absolutely outstanding here, but Gone Baby Gone’s story and acting are strong enough to make the film a solid effort and a recommendable movie.