Gone Baby Gone

Miramax
CASEY AFFLECK and Michelle Monaghan in "Gone Baby Gone."

Affleck shows other talents in ‘Gone Baby Gone’
When you think of Ben Affleck, you normally think of a guy starring in romantic comedies.
Well, think again. Affleck directs and is the co-writer for the screenplay of the harrowing “Gone Baby Gone.” He doesn’t appear in the film and this is no comedy.
The film is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane and stars Ben’s baby brother, Casey.
Casey plays the slightly wimpy detective Patrick Kenzie, with Michelle Monaghan as Angie Gennaro, his partner in more ways than one. The duo usually handle routine cases, tracking down deadbeats.
They are taken back when they are asked by family members to investigate the high-publicized kidnapping of a 4-year-old girl. Titus Welliver plays Lionel and Amy Madigan is his wife, Bea, apparently worried not enough is being done to find their little niece.
Forget other detective stories, where the gumshoes are polished and professional. These two look lost as they meet up with police, who aren’t happy to have private eyes muscling in on their territory.
But the pair live in the same neighborhood all of their lives. They know the people they are interviewing. Their discussions are peppered with high school references.
There’s a sad if not scary-funny scene in a bar when Kenzie is bullied while seeking information and ends up wacking someone with a gun and walks out, pointing his gun.
Amy Ryan received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, playing the little girl’s mother.
Her character is all too familiar, the cracked out, doped up mother who spends her time getting high and ignoring her child. We hear of an instance where she keeps the little girl in a hot car all day, having forgotten about her. Mom even becomes a drug runner to help earn her narcotics.
Morgan Freeman plays a retiring cop whose own daughter died tragically and he couldn’t save her.
Ed Harris plays a grizzled officer who takes to drinking and is suspicious of all.
This is another of those films that doesn’t follow the traditional path. Once you think it sways one way, it switches lanes and goes another route, and then another.
There’s suspense piled upon suspense. There’s plenty of violence.
And Ryan’s character is right out of the headlines, a mother oblivious to her duties, who has had her maternal instincts sucked out by her addictions. She plays the part of Mom the best when the TV news cameras are rolling.
The city of Boston is also a character of sorts in the film.
A previous LeHane novel, “Mystic River,” was also effectively made into a motion picture.
It’s a great cast and Ben Affleck, while a novice, does a professional job putting members through their paces.
You won’t always feel easy during this film, but you won’t be bored.
This appeared in the Star Beacon Weekender April 12, 2008.
Gone Baby Gone
• Directed by Ben Affleck, starring Casey Affleck
• Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language
• Runtime: 114 minutes
• 3 1/2 stars out of 4