Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone
Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan Do Kenzie Gennaro Mysteries
Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Amy Ryan co-star in this thriller adapted from the Dennis Lehane novels.
Gone, Baby, Gone is based on the fourth novel in Dennis Lehane's Kenzie-Gennaro mystery series. Ben Affleck directs his younger brother Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie, Michelle Monaghan as his partner and love interest Angie Gennaro, and a strong supporting cast featuring Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and Amy Madigan. The series takes place in a fictitious Boston, though the movie has updated it to current day. Coming in at under two hours, this suspenseful mystery throws in several plot twists that somehow manage to avoid becoming convoluted.
The Set-Up
The film begins by revolving around a kidnapped little girl, whose aunt and uncle hire Patrick and Angie, private investigators well known for knowing both the neighborhood and the people in it who don't talk to the cops. Only after sitting in with the police while they interview the little girl's drug addicted mother do events begin to unfold. A search begins for people her mother was involved with for drugs and a load of stolen cash. Double crosses come to light and a botched covert operation darkens the plot. A few supposed good guys who may have had ulterior motives make things even more interesting. Just because you see one plot twist coming doesn't mean you'll see the other three.
Does the Movie Do the Book Justice?
The film is expertly paced, especially for being based on a mid-series book. However, the development of the two leads suffers, and their scary drug-dealing friend Bubba is horrendously miscast. Angie feels largely wasted and the movie barely touches on the previous three books' worth of history between Patrick and herself, implying only that they currently live and work together. It's easily argued, however, that many things need be sacrificed when adapting a novel, and the right things seem to have been compromised here. The story itself, how it unfolds, and the suspense in building it, are the key elements and they make for great entertainment.
The Surprise of Casey Affleck
Another surprise was Casey Affleck, deftly taking on a leading role and carrying the film well. Patrick is not big and built; he constantly gets pummeled throughout the series. While not an obvious choice (Patrick somehow seems like he would appear a little more weathered, and Affleck's boyish and incredibly young looks don't capture the PI the way one might imagine from reading the books), Affleck does bring a maturity and presence to a role no one would have expected him to carry off.
Check It Out
Gone, Baby, Gone is incredibly well done and certainly an edge-of-your-seat kind of movie. Perhaps most admirably, it also stays true to the heart of the original material, never shying away from the dark and unpleasant events. It doesn't pull punches, it's not the most upbeat movie, but neither is it heavy handed or sentimental. It captures the tone of the novel, gritty and honest, with lots of grays and no black and white to be seen. This is one to watch for gripping suspense and an intriguing story.
