Gone Baby Gone [2007]
![Gone Baby Gone [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519df4Z94zL._SL160_.jpg) RRP £17.99 Lowest New Price £12.98 
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Suitable for 15 years and over Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm Release date: Monday 22nd of September 2008 Starring: Director(s): Format: PAL, Region code: 2 Running time: 109 minutes |
RRP: £17.99
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Reviews
For his initial offering as director, Ben Affleck returns to the site of his first Oscar: South Boston (he and Matt Damon shared the award for Good Will Hunting). Hot on the heels of his moving turn in Hollywoodland, Affleck's Dennis Lehane adaptation marks one of the more seamless actor-to-filmmaker transitions in recent years. Ostensibly, a procedural about the search for a missing child, class and corruption emerge as his primary concerns. First off, there's low-rent private eye Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck, equally adept in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Then there's the girl's drug mule mother, Helene (Amy Ryan, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead). She and Patrick grew up in Dorchester, but he took a different path, setting up an agency with his girlfriend, Angie (Michelle Monaghan). Helene's aunt, Bea (Amy Madigan), hires the duo to augment the investigation, and they team up with Captain Doyle (Morgan Freeman) and Detective Bressant (Madigan's husband, Ed Harris). The authorities don't appreciate the interference, but Patrick knows how to get the local populace talking, and he soon finds there's more to the story than anyone could possibly imagine. Hard-hitting, but never soft-headed, the evocative end result proves Affleck has a flair for this directing thing and that his little brother can carry a major motion picture with aplomb. Gone Baby Gone belongs on the list of great Boston crime dramas, along with The Departed and Mystic River, Clint Eastwood’s take on Lehane. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
the doom of a distraught degenerate domestication
Review date: 2009-01-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
THE DOOM AND DAMNATION OF A DOMESTICATION-The degenerate cops and profligate gangsters are a garb to show the centemporary moral fabrication of the western culture ,the violent killings ,cocaine snorting and missing kids are the plot with an angelic baby kidnapped in the irish catholic hell of Boston ,but instead of stereotypes we get an origonal,squalid yet profound look at our lives,it is nominally boston but the young swearing kids and the drug junkies could be from Mexico city,Brixton or Berlin .
This is an indictment of the system that has failed to deliver justice overtly and is thus obsolete and the people here are obliged to fulfill its obligations without any belief in its values ,that it needs a rethink was obvious decades ago ,now it is a charade where people have to decide the wrong or right in alliance with their conscience and this is the idea that makes this a classic greater then NO Country for old men ,a poorly realised treatise on violence with hardly anything to say except some silly gimmicks,this on the other hand is a reflection of the working class and professionals diatribe in the current milieu and Afflecks deliver it with enough honesty ,style and finesse to make it a memorable event.
The Departed is mediocre when compared to these hard talking ,grey characters who are trying to do the right within their dominions with limited choices ,but what is right is a mystery and the conclusion is inconclusive appropriately as it is only our perception of right that we regard as one,the truth is obscure and will be revealed only at odd moments in human destiny .
The movie suceeds in trying to explore and divulge part of the truth ,dressed as a kidnapping it dares to tread a fine path and expose the underbelly of the irish catholicism ,but the same holds true world wide and boston here becomes a social mirror to the global condition of humanity.
Casey is a great new talent ,even better than he was in THE KILLING OF COWARD ROBERT REDFORD,and Ben affleck makes the Coens look like the kids in this movie; pawns in the chess game between a corrupt system and degenerate social values .
The script is as sophisticated as Valley of elah and the political strife is just culminating as a means to an end to whitewash the reality ,with no one bothered to know the truth or adminster justice ,which has indeed become a rarity and very precious commodity today .a great movie by afflecks .
USMAN KHAWAJA
Reviews
effective neo-noir with a fake dilema
Review date: 2008-12-04 Rating: 8 out of 10
Like the Gene Hackman movie 'Night Moves' from the 1970s, this is a film that you only realise a bit after watching it is actually a pretty conventional film noir. It's a good one, but the moral imperative that drives the narrative and sets up what is offered as a difficult moral conundrum (although in my view it isn't at all), hides what is, when you think about it, a very straightforward film noir plot- everybody's lying, goodies are really baddies, and the hero is both streetwise and completely clueless as to what's really going on until the final reel.
Ben Affleck's direction, though, is excellent, especially with regard to showing without dwelling on some of the horrors of the story, and his brother Casey is excellent in the lead. Think film noir from the outset, and the other casting decisions give the game away a bit, and it's the less well know actors (to most audiences anyway) who give the best performances really, but it is generally strongly performed throughout.
The only weak link for me is the younger Affleck's character's partner whose attitude later on in the plot seems to make little sense to me, other than to serve to add a rather artifical cost to Affleck's moral dilemma. Difficult to write about without ruining the film, but I think his view, and what he does, is unquestionably right, and there's no dilemma there at all. But credit to a Hollywood film for at least attempting to try and present moral ambiguity, rather than black or white moral certainties.
A decent character-driven drama for once
Review date: 2008-11-20 Rating: 8 out of 10
Even before the film starts, a little girl of 4 has gone missing from the seedier side of Boston, and a police search is well under way. Now a young private investigator is called in, employed by the child's aunt, because he is thought to have connections on the street that the police cannot tap into. He and his female partner set about their task but, somewhat against stereotype in such stories, they are at all times willing to work with, call in or support the police. Eventually lead character Patrick Kenzie, the PI, becomes obsessed with finding little Amanda, perhaps a little more obsessed than the background story leads you to expect.
First of all it's a good story that is never what I would call gripping yet holds your attention at all times. It has few weak points in the screenplay, direction or editing but I found the casting of Casey Affleck in the lead role a slight distraction; he's been in a few blockbusters before (American Pie 2, and all three of the 'Oceans' series) but in a pivotal role here, and one which ultimately decides the outcome and the moral conscience of the whole movie, I don't think he's quite up to the task. Inevitably questions will be asked about his selection given that big brother Ben Affleck was the director; I do wonder though that with a different person at the helm, he would not have been so much as auditioned. Fortunately his shortcomings are overshadowed somewhat by a couple of reliable old pros in Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, but the star for me was Amy Ryan who played the negligent, coke-dealing Helene McCready, mother of the missing girl. I have never heard of Amy Ryan before but I was very impressed with how convincingly she played her part.
I haven't read the novel by Dennis Lehane (Gone, Baby, Gone) and I'm tempted to assume that there's no point, because if the film accurately portrays the written tale, I probably know all there is to know. But I have a few other as yet unread Lehane novels and this film has certainly pushed them nearer to the top of my 'to-be-read' pile. He's widely respected as a top-class writer.
As a film I think it works as suspense drama and with some excellent cinematography depicting the less attractive side to what I had previously thought was a classy American city with a rich history; it still is of course, but none of that is seen here because from beginning to end it is pretty dark and depressing, very much a different impression to picture-postcard perfect that some novels make out.
So there may be a whiff of nepotism on his part but Ben Affleck has made a highly accomplished directorial debut. There's a lot of profanity in it, especially at the beginning, so it's not a film to watch while the kids are around. There's no sexual element visually, but there are some very unpleasant issues discussed (such as child abuse) and there are some bursts of violence, some shocking. A 15 certificate is barely acceptable in my opinion, as this is overall a very adult themed movie. Having said all that, intelligent dramas seem ever thinner on the ground these days so this, unpleasant though it is in concept, is still like a breath of fresh air. Definitely worth buying or renting.
Disappointing...
Review date: 2008-10-29 Rating: 6 out of 10
I'd looked forward to watching this film for some time, but it unfortunately turned out to be a rather underwhelming experience. "Gone Baby Gone" is one of those films which tries to be clever and fails miserably. The convoluted plot sadly becomes more and more unbelievable as the film wears on to the point where you're left wondering who would actually buy such a thing happening. I certainly couldn't and I wasn't the only one.
If the poorly thought out plot wasn't enough, matters were not helped by Casey Affleck's incessant mumbling. Trying to decipher what he's saying is an ordeal in itself. The use of subtitles really is a must. Whilst his enunciation did improve as the film wore on, it did raise a question as to why it was not nipped in the bud before filming had even began. It was a silly oversight and just added to the whole disappointing experience.
Fantastic film
Review date: 2008-10-19 Rating: 10 out of 10
I'd been lookig forward to watching this after the good reviews when it was released at the cinema and was not dissappointed. Exciting, brilliantly acted (especially Casey Affleck) and extremely thought provoking. A Hollywood film that recognises that life is not just black and white and really grips. Highly recommended.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Casey Affleck
Ed Harris
Michelle Monaghan
Morgan Freeman
Amy Ryan
Creators:
Casey Affleck (Primary Contributor)
Michelle Monaghan (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 8717418167745
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-09-22
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 109 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Tech info, cast and quotes/trivia when available. Exclusions may apply with free delivery. Price and availabiltity subject to change
