Bad, Baby, Bad

Rating: 2/10 (16 March 2008)

Yes, there is a lot of Boston grit in Ben Affleck's new film. Every lowlife one can imagine is jammed into a Dorchester neighborhood, speaking with an obligatory "Pahk the Cah in Hahvad Yahd" accent. The young couple protagonists, however, are pure as the driven snow. And they speak clearly, too.
The young couple, private investigators who seem not to have prospered much from their chosen craft, embark on a tortured journey through wildly improbable events that make this film unbelievable on any level.
Add to all of this the inept, stone-faced acting of Casey Affleck, who exhibits a complete lack of chemistry (or even life), especially in what should be intimate scenes with his lover/partner Michelle Monaghan, and you have a recipe for terminal ennui.
The only rewards here are strong performances from Ed Harris and Amy Ryan. Morgan Freeman is underutilized in what amounts to a bit part.
The film succeeds in painting working-class Boston as a hellhole, but does nothing else. Stay away, Baby, Stay away.