"If I see you again I'm gonna get discourteous on you."

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2019)

This movie, almost like no other, is the kind that leaves you in a moral quandary as to what your own actions would have been given the situation private investigator Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) found himself in. Kenzie, who fashioned his ideology on moral absolutes, was resolved to not only solve the case of a missing four year old girl, but to seek justice for those involved in her disappearance. It all sounds fairly straightforward, but the unfolding of this story is anything but. Midway through, the viewer is brought to the conclusion that the young, kidnapped child has been murdered in a ransom gone wrong exchange, only to find the plot has grown considerably more complex with questionable characters ostensibly on the right side of the law finding themselves culpable in a spectacular cover up. Saying anything more would be a tremendous disservice for anyone who hasn't seen the film, and this is one you really must see. But it's not for anyone who can abide sitting on the fence regarding what's right and wrong. The answer is so glaring that it uses the closing scene to illustrate the moral dilemma Affleck's character has created by virtue of his actions. You have to ask yourself, can a good guy trying to do all the right things ultimately make a bad decision?