Starring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris; Directed by Ben Affleck
Despite the intolerable sin of Gigli, Ben Affleck won an Oscar for Goodwill Hunting. This is his directorial debut (unless you count his 1993 short, I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her On A Meat Hook and Now I Have A Three Picture Deal At Disney), marking a seismic shift in style and revealing considerable strengths behind the camera.
Gone Baby Gone is a moral tragedy dressed up as a cop drama, and throws down some deeply uncomfortable questions when PI Patrick is called in to investigate the disappearance of a little girl. A basket case of moral dilemmas is opened in which the central theme, that of a child stolen for its own good, will resonate loudly. Yet for all the film’s extraordinary moments, there’s a troubling undertow of the pot boiler, a niggling implausibility that Affleck never quite shakes. He’s on much firmer ground when soaking up the surrounds of his story.
Boston imbues the film with a gritty resonance and gives added weight to Amy Ryan’s striking performance. As the missing child’s junkie mother, she is utterly, revoltingly, distressingly believable. The unobtrusive tone of baby-faced brother Casey is a good match for Patrick’s earnest naivety. Together they generate some truly vexing cinema, raising haunting ethical issues and incendiary conclusions.
Starring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris; Directed by Ben Affleck
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