Gone Baby Gone: A Movie Review

Amanda is a four-year-old girl who was reported missing from her home.  She has disappeared, and her aunt has enlisted private detectives Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) to help solve the case.

I cannot begin to explain how impressed I was with Ben Affleck's ability to direct.  I was hesitant, yet he proved to be be a gifted director, and many shots were brilliant.

Why is this movie worth seeing?

Amy Ryan portrays Amanda's mother, and although she is a drug addict who barely has her life together, it is clear that this mother loves her daughter.

But the real question would be, is love enough?  What if Amanda has a better life somewhere else?  What would be her best interest in this situation?  Does she deserve this home, where her mother is constantly leaving her, using and selling drugs?

Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman star as the real cops, the ones who the people talking to Patrick and Angie would never speak to.

This movie has twists and turns and unexpected events.  It makes you question your belief system, and wonder... at the end of the film... who made the right decision?

There's a lot of gray in this world.  Everything is not black and white, and Gone Baby Gone is the best film example I can think of to showcase that statement.

This movie at times resembles the feel of Mystic River, a drama that will stand the test of time.

Gone Baby Gone Opening Line

And so it opens with...

I always believed it was the things you don't choose that make you who you are. Your city, your neighborhood, your family.

- Patrick (Casey Affleck) narrates

* Created September 29,2010 KG