Movie Review: Gone Baby Gone

(and yes I realize this is old it just came into my netflix queue, so don't judge my tardiness)

Gone Baby Gone….

Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, I’ll admit I am not a huge fan of Ben’s acting overall but as a director I feel he’s got a decent shot. The screenplay was adapted from a book written by the author of Shutter Island and Mystic River. So you can tell it will be a dramatic mystery thriller. Set in Boston, yes not overly  shocking coming from Affleck. The movie center’s around a coke head’s missing four year old daughter. The coke head is played by Amy Ryan. She may look familiar to you from her role as Michael Scott’s finance on The Office.  The missing child’s aunt and uncle approach Patrick and Angie who are young private detectives to help augment the search for the girl.

The bulk of the story details the hardships of searching for a missing child in the dregs of Boston. Patrick played  by Casey Affleck is a hard headed Bostonian who won’t back down to anyone, including a sociopath drug dealer in the movie. Casey holds his own with the Boston PD when he gets some of the locals to talk and give him information they would not give to the local cops. He uses his long time ties with the community and his past drug habits to make good with the community.  The movie goes through various twists and turns and at one point I was confused with the direction the movie was going in. However I will say that it all got pulled together in the end.

The movie comes with an all star cast. Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and John Ashton whom you may remember from his roles in Beverly Hills Cop. I never knew the depths of what Amy Ryan could do. But her performance in this movie was really good. If you can play a coke head whos child goes missing and then play a comedic role like Michael Scott’s quirky love interest on The Office, you’ve got some talent.  Morgan Freeman’s role while small, he plays a convincing police captain. Ed Harris character is a hard boston cop but his character is likeable even through his tough demeanor. 

All in all I give Gone Baby Gone three stars. I do have to take one away for slight predictability. Although the way Affleck tied it all together in the end the predictability was over shadowed , making me happy that I didn’t have the whole movie figured out, it still had an air of predictability. Casey Affleck was a lot better actor then I thought he’d be. Of course I’d like to see him play another role other than a wanna be Boston cop. The rest of the cast plays up to their potential and the story will leave you on the edge of your seat one moment and then tearing up in the next. Gone Baby Gone, won’t disappoint and Ben kudos to you in your directorial debut.