Gut Wrenching

Rating: 9/10 (22 October 2007)

I loved this film, and it is clear that Ben Affleck belongs behind the camera not in front of it. I think he aspires to be the Clint Eastwood of his generation, and with this directorial debut I have every reason to believe that he will succeed.
This is a very downbeat film though, and perhaps that is what kept me from giving it a 10. It ultimately deals with a moral dilemma, which I cannot discuss without utterly spoiling the film. Suffice it to say that Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan do a terrific job as well as Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and a host of smaller role players that helped Ben Affleck to create so genuine a film. Possible spoiler occurs here- I loved the final scene in the film as the camera pans away and the viewer is left to think what is going through the head of the Casey Affleck character at that moment just after a doll's name is revealed to be Annabelle instead of Mirabelle. Just one little line that is so telling. Great cinema.