Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Theatrical Release: Oct 19, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $20,300,218
Synopsis: Based on the novel by MYSTIC RIVER author Dennis Lehane, GONE BABY GONE marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Affleck's brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective, GONE BABY GONE centers on the... Based on the novel by MYSTIC RIVER author Dennis Lehane, GONE BABY GONE marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Affleck's brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective, GONE BABY GONE centers on the disappearance of a young girl in the working class neighborhood of Dorchester in South Boston. With plenty of twists and turns, the movie works as a solid crime thriller, but it's as a study of a place--and one's ability to either accept and embrace or ultimately break free from it--that the film flowers. Beneath the movie's street-tough justice and cop shop politics sits a very complicated view of the world, which Affleck delves into unflinchingly, thanks in large part to his ability to extract some excellent performances from his cast. Casey Affleck offers a nice mix of both steely resolve and vulnerability, while Harris presents a strong performance as a conflicted, emotionally tortured cop. Of particular note is Amy Ryan as the mother of the abducted girl. Her character's outrageous foul-mouthed demeanor ultimately ends up feeling both tragic and pathetic, with the only appropriate reactions being either pity or rage. It makes for an uncomfortable but affecting dichotomy. GONE BABY GONE signifies a confident and impressive turn behind the camera for one of Hollywood's more contentious stars. A Boston native himself, Affleck takes great care in evoking his city's entirety, from its undeniably ugly underbelly, to what feels like an almost primordial sense of community. It speaks to Affleck's substance as a director, and of good things to come. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton
Screenwriter: Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard
Producer: Alan Ladd, Dan Rissner, Sean Bailey
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
DVD Info
Release:
Feb 12, 2008
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
- Subtitles - French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - Ben Affleck - Director
- Behind-The-Scenes - GOING HOME: Behind-the-scenes with Ben Affleck
- Deleted Scenes
- Featurette - CAPTURING AUTHENTICITY: Casting GONE BABY GONE
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
After seeing Affleck's directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, I can honestly say that he has finally found his true calling in Hollywood.
Great job, everyone! The ride overall is solid and gripping, and very enjoyable despite the glimpses at the horrors of which the human animal is capable.
No need to spend time raking over the parallels of this film and the Maddy case - Gone Baby Gone offers an explanation, real life seldom does.
Back, baby, back. An excellent police procedural and a personal triumph for Ben Affleck, steering his younger brother to a performance that deserved louder applause from gong juries.
A powerful, provocative and excellently acted thriller that could literally have been torn from today's headlines.
A superior, haunting thriller of abduction, deception and ethical dilemma with a sobering ending - a moral quandary that demands strong debate outside the cinema.
An unusually patient approach to storytelling sets Ben Affleck's directorial debut apart, as he allows events to unfurl gradually.
To this day, six months after seeing the film for the first time, I still do not know the answer to one of the biggest moral dilemmas I have ever seen. Casey Affleck's character has to make a decision at the end of this film that just blew my mind.
The first serious foray into directing by Ben Affleck, who reinforces his creative talents by good storytelling and dense mood establishment. Brother Casey Affleck threatens to overshadow his sibling in the acting department.
...a far more accomplished and flat-out compelling piece of work than anybody could've expected.
The structure and layered storytelling make Gone Baby Gone richly satisfying. [Blu-Ray review]
... Ben Affleck is probably the last person most people thought capable of crafting such a perfectly realized movie, especially on his first time at bat.
Ben Affleck creates an authentic tone for the city of Boston, and then he gets great performances out of Casey Affleck, Ed Harris and the rest of the cast.
The reason why Gone Baby Gone works so well is the attention to which Boston is portrayed. The urban neighbourhood is like another character in an already strong cast, one that has needs and desires just like everyone else.
...count Gone Baby Gone among the better crime thrillers of 2007.
A crime thriller that redefines how character-centered stories can be approached.
Gone Baby Gone is a masterful work, going beyond the boundaries of simple detective thriller and into the realm of intelligent, morally complex drama.
The action and drama related to the taking of the girl and the unraveling of the mystery are inarguably engrossing, but sometimes twists and turns that work on the page are drained of impact once put to screen.
Better than the debuts of most actors-turned-directors in that it contains vision and perspective as opposed to concentrating mostly on performances
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