Professors always say “write about what you know.” And the same may apply to directors. Ben Affleck brings his old stomping ground of South Boston to vivid, authentic, pulsating life. The actors look real (not like model types with makeup), the locations unsanitized, the dialogue not sugar-coated. The film has almost a documentary feel to it at times as we peer into the seedy underbelly of this town. An atmosphere of darkness, foreboding, and despair permeates the film, yet is somehow tinged with hints of love, comfort, and familiarity. The film is infused with this singular atmosphere and various shots of beauty and light which make for a beautiful looking and feeling motion picture.
The Characters and Story
But it’s much more than that. Gone Baby Gone is a thought-provoking character study. It is a thematic crime drama that asks tough questions rather than going for easy resolutions. The story involves a private detective (Casey Affleck) hired to search for a missing child. The child’s mother (Amy Ryan) is a single mom drug runner whose drug connections may have led to the kidnapping. Helping in the effort to track the child are a retiring police captain played by Morgan Freeman and a detective played by Ed Harris. The plot has a familiar structure with everyone working to find the child, but the revelations which are shed about the characters and the interplay between all of those involved along with the South Boston locale (which is itself very much a character) create a truly unique and remarkable film.
The Acting
The acting throughout is stellar, especially Amy Ryan’s Oscar nominated turn as the girl’s troubled mother. She creates a character that we both sympathize with and loathe. We feel predisposed to dislike her for her lifestyle, yet there are moments where her fragile humanity shines through and we are truly able to muster some empathy for her. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris both create cops who despite being seemingly good, have darker, tougher secrets to reveal. Similarly, Casey Affleck as the protagonist creates a character with a past, with his own demons to quash.
Moral Questions
It is the blurring of the line between right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark which makes this film so poignant. In a way these are archetypal characters: the conflicted detective, the wizened police chief, the grieving mother are all found here. Yet they are given such dimension, such humanity, that we never doubt their authenticity. These characters are not caricatures- they are neither all good nor all bad- they are shades of both. And our expectations of them are shaken and put to the test. In the end we are left with difficult questions concerning morality. And the ending doesn’t tidily resolve them for us. We’re left to contemplate how we would react in those moments in the oppressive yet comfortable streets of South Boston. And, as in all of our own lives, the choices we make and the demons we grapple with are far from easy.
