Gone Baby Gone

So I happened upon Gone Baby Gone on cable the other night. There had been tremendous buzz about Ben Affleck's directorial review, the acting, the story, etc. To which I have to say, believe the hype.

Wow. I had no idea that Ben Affleck had such a eye for making a film. I had no idea that Casey Affleck could be riveting as a Boston native trying to do the right thing. I had no idea that Amy Ryan, who I had only seen as Michael's goofy paramour in The Office, had such amazing range to play this deeply flawed, druggie mother. I had no idea that a character named "Cheese" could be so scary.

At first glance, this movie started looking like a spin-off of Mystic River, which isn't a bad thing, but to Ben Affleck's credit, it had its own vision of Boston. The similarity may be due in part that both movies are based on novels by Dennis LeHane, which both focused on working-class Boston and crimes involving children. This movie opens up with the kidnapping of the daughter of Helene (played by Amy Ryan). Amy Ryan builds a character you end up alternately villifying and sympathizing, and man, I have to say it again, I can't believe this is the same woman who played Michael's nutty girlfriend in The Office. Morgan Freeman is Captain Jack Doyle, who is in charge of the investigation and had lost his own daughter in a kidnapping crime. Morgan Freeman to me, is untouchable--I love him in everything, right down to those Olympic Visa commercials he narrated over the summer. I wouldn't say this is his best work but as always, he's got my attention whenever he speaks.

The cast overall, was just dynamite. From Casey Affleck as a private investigator hired by the kidnapped girl's aunt (played dead-on by Amy Madigan) to Ed Harris (once you let go that, yes, he's got an obvious hairpiece on) to all the supporting characters. The film does a great job questioning our senses of idealism, justice, and humanity, that right and wrong isn't always simply black and white. And a lot of that is due to Casey Affleck's ability to draw us in as his character questions such conflicts himself.

There was one flaw, however, which was the final revelation at the end. And because I want to avoid spoiling the ending for anyone, I have this analogy:

Did you ever hear this joke? (Edited to add: apparently this joke appears in Maxim this month, though that wasn't my source.) A smug lawyer is pulled over by a cop. The cop says," License and registration, please." "What for?" says the lawyer. The cop says, "You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign." Then the lawyer says, "I slowed down, and no one was coming." "You still didn't come to a complete stop," says the cop, "License and registration, please." The lawyer says, "What's the difference?" "The difference is you have to come to complete stop, that's the law. License and registration, please!" the cop says. The smug lawyer says, "If you can show me the legal difference between 'slow down' and 'stop', I'll give you my license and registration, and you give me the ticket. If not, you let me go and don't give me the ticket." The cop says, "That sounds fair. Please exit your vehicle, sir." At this point, the cop takes out his billy club and starts beating the lawyer and says, "Do you want me to stop, or just slow down?"

Now, the problem with this joke, police brutality notwithstanding, is that I felt that someone came up with the punchline first and built a joke around it. So the joke feels contrived: who would think that a police officer can't define the difference between slow down and stop? Or for that matter, what five-year-old couldn't tell you the difference?

The final revelation of Gone Baby Gone felt contrived to me and raised similar questions of logic, in as much as it brought about another crucial conflict about right and wrong. The film is finely crafted with many layers both in terms of characters and story. This was one layer that just felt like it came out of left field.

Despite this, I would still give this movie four stars. And I'm surprised I'm saying this, but I gotta say it, I'm looking forward to the next film Ben Affleck directs.