No good deed goes unpunished

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2007)

At the end................what a moral dilemma! The end of this smart film will not be revealed here but it is the kind that has you thinking and talking for days after. Ben Affleck's directorial debut shows he has the right stuff for stories set in his childhood area of South Boston, as he hits all the right notes to me except for two in this gritty, grim and non-smiling story about child abduction, a situation that is getting to be as common as roadside trash in our rapidly declining society.
The poor white working class characters of South Boston were shown in all their lack of glory, as downtrodden a folk as you will see anywhere in the country, city or rural. Poverty, obesity and other physical repulsiveness(and not just the people),decay, trash, and trashiness were everywhere and in nearly everyone there, and set the scene well for the very harsh tale to follow. Ben's brother Casey was very good in his starring role as a private detective hired to help solve the kidnapping. He is short on emotional range, but that usually fatal defect in an actor actually became a positive in this very serious role, as after much violence and deception, he finally solves the confusing riddle of convolution created by the terrific Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman in their pivotal cop roles involving the kidnapping of the 4 year old daughter of a drug addict single mom, played by the accomplished stage actress, Amy Ryan.
Amy Ryan was mostly very effective overall in her druggie/mom from hell role, but her poised body language learned for the stage was not realistic compared to the slumped over, beaten down body language of the addicts I have seen. But, she did convey well the repulsiveness of the poor white underclass, using gross denial, insult, disrespect, and abject irresponsibility and foul language to the hilt, and was especially upsetting when we saw a "mother" like her repulsive self "raising" an innocent daughter who would surely pay, along with society, in many hard ways over the years for the sins of her horribly flawed mother. If she was lucky enough to live through it, that is.
Another nagging problem was that Casey's Dudly DoRight character was very conflicted at the end about the dilemma discussed below, but not at all about taking the law into his own hands earlier and making a decision that is only the state's right to make. Extreme moral right and criminal wrong in the same person?.....just like many of the rest of us probably, but disturbing here in that his lawless deed was so in contrast with the rigidly self-righteous stance he took at the end.
Michelle Monaghan was gorgeous and terrific as Affleck's smart and aware girlfriend and business associate and, to me, had the correct opinion of what should have happened in the end. It all boiled down to this......yes, what happens to one child, good or bad, will not change the world much I understand well, but the growing collective evil in the world has to be questioned and examined by all of us when it is seen to grow by the choices we all voluntarily make in our lives that we think are right at the time. So, is traditional moral right always the best solution for any problem? Or, compared to strict traditional moral right, is what is best for one child at a time the practical best answer overall for that child and for society even if it contrasts with traditional moral right?
That is the very tough issue all responsible viewers will give much thought to upon seeing this film. See it...and think hard about the problem. It's a crucial issue in our decaying society, and Ben Affleck showed it here in as convincing yet entertaining a way as anyone could show it in film. But, don't expect a feel-good Hollywood ending as there was nothing of the kind, and I applaud Affleck for making that choice here. One of the best films of the year so far.