See it

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2008)

May I start by saying that I quite like Ben Affleck. Sorry, but there was a real need to write that. I will explain.
Of late Ben Affleck has been on the promotion circuit in the UK. After many delays "Gone Baby Gone" has finally gotten itself a UK cinema release. It has been interesting to observe that in literally every single interview with the man, there has been a comment on the supposed antipathy of film critics towards Ben Affleck as an actor.
Well, I certainly wouldn't consider Ben Affleck to be the greatest actor of his generation. He is not even the greatest movie star of his generation, which, of course, has got nothing to do with acting ability. This, as I see it, puts Ben Affleck into the same category as 99% of the actors working today, and those people do not get the same level of criticism.
Who to blame? The tabloids? The fame game? The fact that for a period of time Ben was in love with J-Lo?
Oh, dear. Give the guy a break, will you, please?
So, then. Ben's directorial debut. Will the critics like him more as a débutant Director? Is "Gone Baby Gone" worth a look?
Oh, yes. You just might say that.
"Gone Baby Gone" is, perhaps, not as completely assured a Lehane adaptation as Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" (the revelatory final 40 minutes maybe could have been paced a little better), but it is frequently a very good and sometimes great movie. Casey Affleck proves that his breakthrough in "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford" was no flash in the pan. His baby faced, quiet and introspective private investigator, with a streak of street wise steel running through him, is just a brilliant piece of work. Definitely one of the performances of the year. Casey Affleck is the pivot around which "Gone Baby Gone" turns. He is rarely off screen and easily holds his own against great turns by Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and the Oscar nominated Amy Ryan. Only Michelle Monaghan is a tad underused as Casey Affleck's sidekick/girlfriend, although she does have a great couple of scenes towards the end.
"Gone Baby Gone" is much more than just a private investigator/mystery/thriller. It is a throwback to one of those great Robert Altman and Arthur Penn movies of the 1970's. Downbeat, naturalistic, subdued, bleak, with an almost documentary feel. Real streets and real people, not film sets and actors playing it downtrodden and dirty. "Gone Baby Gone" swims deeply in some very murky and morally dubious waters. This is the question: How prepared are you to do the correct thing, when it is not necessarily the right thing?
What would you have done when faced with the question posed to Casey Affleck at the end of the film? Do you lose your soul or do you lose your conscience?
See it. "Gone Baby Gone" is one of the best films of the year. I cannot recommend it enough.