If this is was to be expected from Ben Affleck-directed movies...

Rating: 8/10 (1 March 2008)

This is Ben Affleck's directorial debut, after his acting career has been somewhat reduced to being fairly mocked on Family Guy, he made this movie which is quite good. This movie had been slightly derailed over comparisons to the notorious McCaan mystery that has been all the talk in Portugal, so understandably there might be tendency to pre-judge and people are likely going to get upset, however close examination of it's plot reveals no similarities to the elusive real world case, but speculation continues... This story centers around Patrick Kenzie, a private detective who's assigned to look for a missing child that sparked a lot of media attention, the child of a single mother who goes missing for hours on end. As Patrick and her partner/girlfriend continue their search, nothing is what it seems and suddenly the truth is much scarier then you might think as the people you trust and the people you meet on this case become more ambiguous. The mystery storyline is quite impressive, with some great twists and turns that you won't see coming(at least not at first). There's also an interesting moral struggle near the end of the movie, which will likely make people take sides over this matter. Acting is acceptable, thought Casey Aflleck didn't strike me as entirely convincing, was it his accent? Because he sounded fairly one tone(ironically kinda like his brother). Patrick is presented as a detective with lots of connections who apparently can wave threats to a sleazy Haitian crook, but his appearance doesn't make it entirely convincing, but the character's sense of morals make up for these shortcomings. Michelle Mohganagan is also acceptable and Morgan Freeman is just being himself. Ed Harris shines as the hardened cop who the audience will keep guessing as to his true intentions. Overall, it's an acceptable cast. You can say that Gone Baby Gone is also well shot, with some shots of people walking around Boston, emerging you into it, but also the underbelly of civilization is briefly shown through petty thieves and most disturbingly in the house of a coke-addicted couple and their child-molesting buddy(quite a shocking scene, even if when it's not entirely shown). The soundtrack feels just about right. This is a great movie and I recommend everybody watching this.