Gone Baby Gone

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Ryan, Amy Madigan
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Genre: Drama, Crime
Rating: R
2007

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A private eye (Casey Affleck) and his partner wife (Michelle Monaghan) are hired to find the kidnapped daughter of a druggie (Amy Ryan). They come into conflict with a police captain (Morgan Freeman) and a detective (Ed Harris) also looking for the girl.

Review:

Tim: Somehow, in some way, Ben Affleck put together a terrific movie for his directorial debut. How he managed to do this is astonishing. This is an excellent movie, and Affleck directs it masterly. The film balances action and drama wonderfully, and hits a nerve with the audience. This isn't always an easy movie to watch, but it is entertaining, powerful, and memorable. Gone Baby Gone is a good movie.

Casey Affleck takes direction well from his brother, and gives a very good performance. He's somewhat of an unlikely leading man, but he has a certain endearing quality which makes us like seeing him on screen. Michelle Monaghan doesn't have a huge role, but she does a fairly good job. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris are both such amazing actors, and they are in top form here. Amy Ryan is decent in a surprisingly Oscar-nominated role. The cast all give very good performances.

The movie has a great original source in Dennis Lehane's novel. The film is very well adapted for the screen, another surprising task that Ben Affleck pulled off quite well. The movie does a good job of pacing the action and character development, keeping us in a state of suspense throughout the entire film. The movie's conclusion is actually fairly shocking, and people will either love it or hate it. I absolutely loved it. I found it mentally mind-blowing and hard to figure out. Gone Baby Gone is such a good movie because it lives in the grey areas of life. There are no easy right or wrong answers here. Affleck gives us an incredibly well-made movie that is very enjoyabke. I really, really enjoyed the movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 8


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