Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, Michelle Monaghan and John Ashton in Miramax Films' Gone Baby Gone

But for the family this job is not near enough. They hire local private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Genarro (Michelle Monaghan) to also follow the case and help try to find little Amanda. Soon they are sparring with relentless detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and his equally driven partner Nick Poole (John Ashton) about the case, uncovering devastating truths about the girl’s drug-addled mother Helene (Amy Ryan) spurring things in a tragic direction no one could have anticipated.

Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, actor Ben Affleck makes a strong debut as a director with the emotionally bristling thriller Gone Baby Gone. More, it marks another gigantic step forward for his little brother Casey, this along with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford proving he is an astonishing acting talent definitely worth keeping an eye on.

In other words, I really liked this film and what both Afflecks have done with it. Ben’s script (his first since winning an Oscar with Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting in 1999) is a corker, twisting into crevices and corners a lot of pictures usually fear to go. This story turns in on itself to finally emerge an emotional powder keg, the final weight of everyone’s choices causing a landslide of second guessing and emotional chaos impossible to walk away from.

It should be noted that Angie, such a pivotal figure in Lehane’s books, is pretty much relegated to the sideline here. Monaghan does what she can (one of her final scenes with Affleck on a country road is simply stunning) but her character is really nothing more than window dressing. It’s rudimentary feminine stereotyping not befitting such a great literary partnership, seeing it happen a moderately annoying disappointment.

But as much as this hurts, and I’d be remiss for not saying it hurts a lot, the film’s central trauma is still so stirring and dramatically powerful the cumulative effect is at times simply breathtaking. Director Affleck skillfully weaves around the dark corners of the tale with confident authority, while actor Affleck builds his character layer by layer finally leaving viewers with a haunting figure whose choices you can’t help debating long after the final curtain has closed.

It comes as no surprise that the rest of the cast here is solidly wonderful. These are rolls Freeman and Harris could probably dominate and control in their sleep so saying their both commanding here isn’t exactly going to make anyone stand up in shock. What is nice is seeing veteran character actors like Ashton and Amy Madigan (who just so happens to also be married to Harris) have rolls equal to their talents, both making indelible impressions in just a short amount of screen time.

Yet it is newcomer Ryan (most familiar to audiences for her work on HBO’s The Wire) who is the biggest surprise. Helene could have been a despicable, one-dimensional figure of stereotypically poor parenting. Instead, the actress makes her the film’s most tragic figure he journey from despair to indifference to ruination to redemption to disappointment a rollercoaster of emotional resilience, all of it culminating in a moment filled with equal parts inspirational hope and demoralizing failure that’s emotionally devastating. 

The more I think about Gone Baby Gone the more I realize just how much I loved it. Ben Affleck has given the film an air of authenticity (due in no small part to his decision to shoot on location and to cast extras from the neighborhood) that’s pointedly palpable, while bother Casey has delivered a performance of emotive intensity that’s truly something special. This is a very good movie, one I’m sure people will be talking about long after they leave the movie theater.

Film Rating: êêê  (out of 4)

Additional Links:

-  Gone Baby Gone Theatrical Trailer