Gone Baby Gone Review by Chris (4.5 Stars)

Gone Baby Gone Review by Chris (4.5 Stars) | MatchFlick

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Starring:
Casey Affleck, John Ashton, Whitney Avalon, Eamon Brooks, Morgan Freeman, Edi Gathegi, Jay Giannone, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Matthew Maher, Mark Margolis, Allyssa Maurice, Michelle Monaghan, Patrick Pitu, Amy Ryan, Robert Wahlberg, Titus Welliver, Michael K. Williams, William DeCoff, Alan Resnic, Chuck Slavin, Terry Conforti, Carla Antonino, Michael Yebba, Billy Silvia, Tom Kemp, Kasey Ryan, Brian Scannell, Michele Proude, Rich Skinner, Karen Ahern, John Belche, Mary Bounphasaysonh, Paula Chleboski, Peter Crafts, Andy Dawson, Aidan Demarest, Elizabeth Dings, Joseph Flaherty, Trudi Goodman, Cameron Henry, Paul Horn, Devon Jencks, John Joyce, Chelsea Ladd, Jimmy LeBlanc, William Lee, Josh Marchette, Madeline O'Brien, Dale Place, Matt Podolske, Ronald Riccioli, Osmani Rodriguez, Patrick Shea, Rich Skinner, Gary Tanguay, Joey Vacchio, Lewis D. Wheeler, Cathie Callanan, Fanshen Cox, Kippy Goldfarb, Peg Holzemer, Slaine

Directed By:
Ben Affleck

Written By:
Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

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Movie Review by Chris
July 12th, 2008

When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detective freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons - they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live. As the case progresses, Kenzie and Gennaro face drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they finally solve the case, they are faced with a moral dilemma that tears them apart.

When director Ben Affleck is having a hard time with his acting career, which recently he has been, he can always turn to directing as Gone Baby Gone is a fantastic and heart breaking movie. It seems that the story, based off of novel written by Dennis Lehane, seems to be one straight out of the newspaper. Everything from the script to the heartfelt characters seem real and ontact. The movie basically sorrounds a missing persons case which gets more personal that wanted to with our main characters Patrick and Angie. As things begin to get hectic with the situation, sometimes we must sacrifice to do what we believe is right when others believe it is wrong.

Co Writer and directed Ben Affleck made a risky move with casting his little brother Casey as the lead role. Honestly this is my first time seeing Casey in a film and I have to say I really felt his performance. Him and his girlfriend Angie work on their own Private Investigators team and when approached by Helene's brother, they must take over the case. Lionel and his wife show up at Patrick's and Angies house to ask them for help without Helene's consent. This was risky but smart as they want their niece back. Helene lives a regretful life, played by the amazing Amy Ryan, this was Amy's first Oscar Nominated performance of her career. She runs drugs for a man named Cheese and makes some decisions which arent exactly the right ones to make. When first questioned by Patrick and Angie, she seems careless and very relaxed for a mother with a missing daughter. But as Patrick begins discovering some things alongside Remy, she then realizes what she did wrong all her life.

Gone Baby Gone is one of the most realistic movies ever made when it comes to the kidnapping of a young kid. Every detail from the personal torture of the mother and family, to the graphic reality which the film shows about these molesters is seckening real. As we dig deeper into the case alongside with Patrick, the film shows it's brutal and more horrifying look into the case. As another child has dissapeared after the case of Amanda is supposedly closed, we get a scene where one of Patrick's buddies find the kid within a guys house. As he gets Remy and his partner to enter the house, everything goes wrong when the people begin shooting back and Patrick changes as he realizes what's in the house. We can see that the molester is truly a sick man and he meets his fate from Patrick.

As Tim had said in his review, the last 10 minutes completely changed the path of the movie. A retired cop named Jack Doyle, played greatly by Morgan Freeman ends up coming back into the story. I have to say that what he did was wrong, but it was smart. It showed a giant jump in his character because the rest of the movie didnt really sorround him to much. In the end we see that Helene has changed and seems sympathetic for both Patrick and Amanda.

Gone Baby Gone is a strong directorial debut from Ben Affleck. With terrific acting, some terrifying and gruesome realizations and a truly heartbreaking story, the movie succeeds greatly. The only thing I was dissapointed by was the sudden change of an ending. Great movie though.

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