Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Director:

Ben Affleck

Writers (WGA):

Ben Affleck (screenplay) &
Aaron Stockard (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Everyone Wants The Truth... Until They Find It.

Plot:

Two Boston area detectives investigate a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally. Based on the Dennis Lehane novel.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Investigation | Drug Dealer | Little Girl | Kidnapping

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 19 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Casey Affleck	...	Patrick Kenzie
Michelle Monaghan	...	Angie Gennaro
Morgan Freeman	...	Jack Doyle
Ed Harris	...	Remy Bressant
John Ashton	...	Nick Poole
Amy Ryan	...	Helene McCready
Amy Madigan	...	Bea McCready
Titus Welliver	...	Lionel McCready
Michael K. Williams	...	Devin (as Michael Kenneth Williams)
Edi Gathegi	...	Cheese
Mark Margolis	...	Leon Trett
Madeline O'Brien	...	Amanda McCready
Slaine	...	Bubba
Trudi Goodman	...	Roberta Trett
Matthew Maher	...	Corwin Earle

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Africa:16LV | USA:R (certificate #43431) | Taiwan:R-18 | Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:R21 | France:-12 | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Italy:VM14 | Brazil:16 | Netherlands:16 | Israel:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Ireland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:18 | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

LivePlanet

Trivia:

Broadway actress Amy Ryan looked and sounded so convincing as a low class Dorchester mom that a security guard mistook her for a fan on the first day of location filming, and wouldn't let her on the set. One of the producers finally noticed her on the other side of one of the barricades, and said she should be let through. The incident made Ryan twenty minutes late, but convinced her the Boston accent she'd prepared was realistic.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The inspection stickers on the vehicles have a "0" before the number of month of which they are inspected. In Massachusetts, they do not.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Patrick Kenzie: I always believed it was the things you don't choose that makes you who you are. Your city, your neighborhood, your family. People here take pride in these things, like it was something they'd accomplished. The bodies around their souls, the cities wrapped around those...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gone Baby Gone Featurette (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Through the Dark

A masterpiece

Every once in a while, amid the dross that reviewers have to sit through, comes a movie that hits like a sucker punch to the gut and haunts you long after you've left the theater. Such is the case with Gone Baby Gone.

Based on the book by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), Gone Baby Gone marks the directorial debut of Ben Affleck, who also penned the screenplay in tandem with Aaron Stockard, and easily puts him at the front of the line for Oscar contention.

Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan star as a pair of private investigators based in the rough working class Dorchester district of Boston. The two are hired by the family of a missing four-year-old girl to assist the police investigation because of their street connections and ability to get people to talk who otherwise would never open up to a cop. As they navigate through the neighborhood's seamy underbelly of pimps, drug dealers and crack whores they uncover an ever-expanding mystery that takes on the added dimension of provoking the question of just what is right and what is wrong, firmly pitting both story and viewer in a struggle between situational ethics and moral absolutes.

Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris round out an impressive cast, but it's the younger Affleck who takes this movie on his back and runs with it, easily surpassing his director brother in terms of acting breadth and range. This is no slight to Ben, however. It's been a long time since I was this impressed with a directorial debut, and even longer since I was given cause to reflect upon the values that we hold dear as individuals and a society, and the moral foundations upon which they are based. Gone Baby Gone manages both, and wraps it up in a hard-hitting detective story that serves as much to satisfy the baser urges of bar fights and gun play, as it does tackling bigger issues.

It's also one of those rare movies in which it can easily be said that the less you know about the story going in, the richer the experience. There's no clear twist ending to give away, but rather a layered story that unfolds like a Russian stacking doll with a moral dilemma at its core.

One thing I do feel comfortable revealing, however, is that this movie comes about as close as any can to being a bonafide lock come Academy Award time. Congrats Ben, you may well have redeemed yourself from your J-Lo/Gigli reputation at last.