Gone Baby Gone

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2014)

Gone Baby Gone is one heck of a film. The first time I watched it I LOVED the tense atmosphere, the complicated characters, the labyrinthine plot and the impossible moral dilemmas it set. On my second viewing, I thought it was even better Knowing what was going to happen, I could concentrate more on the underlying satire of television news, the skewering of a culture dependent on drugs and booze, the subtle little clues throughout which pointed to the final solution... It truly is a thinking person's masterpiece.
Ben Affleck directs his brother Casey, and together they seem to make a great team. Affleck Junior plays a young-ish private eye, and together with his girlfriend seem to be the only ones with a firm moral compass in the picture. They're searching for a missing little girl, who's mother is a serious addict to every vice known to man. She plays up her 'grief' for the cameras, but the reality is she really isn't that bothered about the disappearance at all... heck, the little lady even seemed to get in the way of her daily fix.
What starts off as a minor investigation liaising with the police quick escalates into a tense game of chess, as our detective finds himself in the midst of conspiracies, cover-ups, threats and outright murder. Friends are few and far between, and even the ones you THOUGHT you could trust have to be scrutinised to the Nth degree. This kind of knotty storyline has been done on many an occasion, but very rarely with the style and finesse which is exhibited here. The city BREATHES, the air HUMS with anticipation and when the people TALK, you listen.
Finally, we have the ending, which is destined to be one of those classic Water Cooler moments. As in... what would YOU do? There are no easy answers to that... people would get hurt either way, and would you break a heartfelt promise if you thought it was in... someone's best interest. All difficult questions, inspired by a film which puts these complex matters on the agenda and delivers the respect demanded of them in spades. Brilliant. 9/10