Lingers in your mind long after watching it...

Rating: 9/10 (11 April 2020)

"Gone Baby Gone" follows two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.
This film cemented Ben Affleck's career as a director and a storyteller, and very rightfully so.
Long after I had finished watching the film, the main thematic question lingered in my mind, which is a merit to how much of an impact the film makes on the viewer - especially with strong imagery used to portray these theme-defining moments.
Mainly, the choices that we consciously make - what is right and what is wrong? Or are they just choices that we have to make, then live with the consequences (which is easier said than done) ...
Set in a run-down Bostonian environment, the milieu feels very authentic in the way it shows the people living here and their short tempers - which is obviously influenced by Ben Affleck's own Bostonian background. It was refreshing to see him having translated his experiences of the borough onto the film so well.
The performances of Casey Affleck, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman are most commendable in this film - allowing the audience to empathize with their characters' actions despite the shades of grey we see in them.
The scenes that unfold the plot succeed in conveying the sense of suspense, distrust and ultimately disturbance that would come from investigating a case such as this - and make excellent use of the characters to make these situations tense and unpredictable.
Unlike my usual habit of thinking about a film's flaws after watching it, the only flaw I could think of here was the prominence of Michelle Monaghan's character (or lack of it). Being one of the two detectives mentioned in the premise, we never really see her do any detective work. Casey Affleck's character does all of the investigating, leaving her character sidelined, hence severely underused. Her only importance comes at the end where the protagonist has to make a major choice which would affect their relationship.
But this flaw comes nowhere close to hampering the experience of watching this appreciable film.