Ben hit a commercial and social home run !

Rating: 9/10 (3 October 2007)

People everywhere cringe at the thought of their child being abducted. Anyone who has watched any of the prime-time news channels in the last several years can see that every major news network devotes huge amounts of time to abduction and kidnapping stories. This is a clear reflection of the heart and conscience of a global society today. Every single human has a family, and knows from a primal understanding that all children are innocent, and are dependent on 2 parents and their extended families to protect them, teach them, and guide them down a path toward independence in the world.
This movie raises one of many important questions in a long overlooked subject .children's rights.
I was happy to see that when facing a tough decision of how to end the movie, Ben Affleck decided to choose for the rights of the child. In a discussion after the directors screening I attended, Ben said "in real life, you never know if it's right or wrong, but you have to take a side, and live with the consequences". Casey Affleck said "any other choice would be crazy and irresponsibleyou can't take kids". Amy Ryan said "lets help the parents "(who need help), "its about breaking the cycle". Clearly working on this film has raised these actors / director personal awareness on the issue of child abduction. As I am sure this movie will for all who see it.
As the father of an abducted child, and a person who has devoted most of my life to this work since my daughter was abducted, I have to say that this film .from beginning to end, handled such a challenging subject with a sensitivity and completeness. I am very impressed and Ben has made me a believer in his work. Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard definitely did their due diligence in real research. There are many important aspects of real world abductions handled well here.and it is all in a Hollywood movie that contains the kind of action and drama and intrigue, that filmmakers seem to have to use to get the tickets sold.
I was especially impressed with the coming of age of the character Casey played, Patrick a guy who didn't exactly know where he fit in his community, until he decided "I'm gonna bring her home". With a certain naivete' in the world , he is driven to stand by his principles. The line "I believe the government when they tell me something" explains him well. But eventually he has a moment of clarity and growth and says "I must have remembered it wrong". This is the moment of his acceptance that the government, corrupt police, and anyone .is fallible and has shortcomings. We all have personal and political agendas that if backed into a corner, will defend, right or wrong, and the rest of the world can't change that. Its a moment that defines the rest of his life.
Amy Ryan does a great job playing her character a bad role-model for a parent. Those stereotypes on Jerry Springer exist in real life, and they have children. Many are not able to put the children first in their lives, for whatever the reason. All of us probably live near one.
My hat is off entirely to Ben Affleck and all. Children seem to be able to survive incredible events and trauma. They seem to rebound against all odds without obvious damage sometimes. In the end, all will be revealed. But for now . We are left to ask ourselves and those around us .When that child grows up, and finds out that he or she was abducted, or when that abducted child says "they stole me"...... Who will stand up and answer for and apologize to her for not helping to return her to her lawful parents? Definitely go see the movie ,
Patrick Braden October 2 2007