Gone Baby Gone Movie Review

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

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Written by: Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard (screenplay), Dennis Lehane (novel)
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Ryan, TItus Welliver, Michael Kenneth Williams, Mark Margolis
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Two Boston area detectives investigate a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.

Verdict
This movie has such a great mood, admittedly it's dark and depressing though. The case is a missing child, but this is all about choices. There's what's right and what's just. Everyone has to figure out where they draw the line, and this movie blurs that line the entire time as characters fall on both sides with justifications. This is gripping the entire time, but it ends with such an impact. It's a movie that's so impressive, and the ending unbelievably makes it even better.
Watch It.

Review
Patrick (Casey Affleck) and his girlfriend Angie (Michelle Monaghan) are private investigators that take on a missing persons case to help out the community. It's higher stakes than they're used to, but he feels obligated. These are his people. This is where he lives.

Casey Affleck, Amy Ryan play Patrick, Helene

There's the tragedy of this child being kidnapped, but she was being neglected. You wonder how well the mother, Helene (Amy Ryan) was taking care of her. Patrick finds out Helene lied. She was in a bar getting high when her daughter was kidnapped. Amy Ryan stands out in the role, convincingly playing a Boston resident. One day early on set a security guard wouldn't let her through, mistaking her for a local.

The situation just gets worse. The more Patrick discovers, the worse Helene looks. She may not be directly involved, but her negligence and mistakes are a contributing factor. Patrick searches the dark corners of the neighborhood looking for the missing girl. This isn't a case with a triumphant victory. Patrick has to move on. A later case forces him to draw his own moral line, and that decision causes him to question all his choices.

Casey Affleck plays Patrick

This is a tightly wound thriller. The intensity never lets up. Everyone bends the law. Each of these characters tries to do the right thing, but the question is, what's right? There's the law, what's moral, and how you live with yourself. In one of the final scenes, Patrick checks up on a character to see how they're doing and really to confirm a choice he made earlier. You wonder if he's second guessing.

The ending of this movie hits so hard. The entire thing is about choices; what's right and what's just. Patrick makes a number of choices, and it all comes down to this ending. It leaves you thinking about it days later, making you rethink everything you've seen. It very well could change your opinion on the decisions we've seen these characters make.