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Boston seems like the most forbidding city in crime movies. There are lots of movies about criminals in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and points between, but somehow in Boston the wounds cut deeper, the characters are angrier, their resentments bleed, their grudges never die, and they all know everybody else's business. The novelist Dennis Lehane captured that dour gloom in his books inspiring " Mystic River " and now "Gone Baby Gone." What would it take to make his characters happy?

This is his fourth story involving Patrick Kenzie ( Casey Affleck ) and Angie Gennaro ( Michelle Monaghan ), lovers and business partners, who are private investigators specializing in tracking down deadbeats. Approached by clients who have deadly matters on their mind, Patrick and Angie protest that they're just garden-variety PIs, don't carry guns, aren't looking for heavy lifting. Then somehow they end up with crucifixion murders, kidnapped babies and, as always, people who are not who, or what, they seem.

This could become a franchise, if we didn't start grinning at their claims to be basically amateurs. In "Gone Baby Gone," Ben Affleck , making his debut as a director, assumes we haven't read the four novels, approaches Patrick and Angie head on and surrounds them with a gallery of very, very intriguing characters. He has his brother Casey and Monaghan play babes in the deep, dark woods, their youth and inexperience working for them as they wonder about what veteran cops don't question. The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature.

I know, the title sounds like the movie should star Bill Haley and the Comets. But there is a rough authenticity from the first shots, especially when we meet a woman named Bea McCready ( Amy Madigan ) and her husband Lionel ( Titus Welliver ), who don't think the cops are doing enough to track down her 4-year-old niece. They think people who know the neighborhood and don't wear badges might find out more. They're right.

The police investigation is being led by Jack Doyle ( Morgan Freeman ) of the Crimes Against Children police task force, who unlike a standard movie cop, doesn't resent these outsiders but suggests they work with his men Remy Bressant ( Ed Harris ) and Nick Poole ( John Ashton ). Not likely, but good for the story, as the trail begins in the wreckage of a life being lived by the little girl's single mother, Helene ( Amy Ryan ). She is deep into drugs, which she takes whenever she can sober up enough, and there seems to be a connection between her supplier and a recent heist of a pile of drug money.

Enough about the plot. What I like about the movie is the way Ben Affleck and his brother, both lifelong Bostonians, understand the rhythm of a society in which people not only live in one another's pockets but are trying to slash their way out. This movie and the recent " The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford " announce Casey's maturation as an actor, and it also proves, after her film "The Heartbreak Kid," (2007) that Michelle Monaghan should not be blamed for the sins of others. And when you assemble Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and Amy Ryan as sidemen, the star soloists can go out for a cigarette, and the show goes right on. One reason crime movies tend to be intrinsically interesting is that the supporting characters have to be riveting. How far would Jason Bourne get in a one-man show?

There are some secrets and concealed motives in "Gone Baby Gone," but there always are, in any crime movie without nametags saying Good Guy and Bad Guy. What distinguishes the screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard , which departs from the novel in several ways, is (a) how well-concealed the secrets are, and (b) how much perfect sense they make when they're revealed. I am grateful when a movie springs something on me, and I feel rewarded, not tricked.

I also like the way that certain clues are planted in plain view. We can see or hear them just fine. It's that we don't know they're clues. No glowering closeups or characters skulking in a corner to give the game away. That's a tribute to the writing -- and the acting, which doesn't telegraph anything. Actors talk about how well they like to get to know their characters. Sometimes it's better if they take them at face value and find out more about them along with the rest of us.

There are dark regions below the surface of the story. Was the child taken by a pedophile? There's a suspect, all right, but maybe he's too obvious. Certainly Helene, the mother, is no help. She's so battered by drugs and drink that she's hardly quite sure if a conversation is taking place. It's amazing the little girl made it to 4; her aunt and uncle must have had a lot to do with that. The unspoken assumption is that somewhere a clock is ticking, and the longer the child remains missing, the more likely she will never be found or be found dead. And here are these two kids, skip tracers who have lives and destinies depending on them.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language

114 minutes

Amy Ryan as Helene McCready

John Ashton as Nick Poole

Amy Madigan as Bea McCready

Ed Harris as Remy Bressant

Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie

Michelle Monaghan as Angie Gennaro

Morgan Freeman as Jack Doyle

Titus Welliver as Lionel McCready

Directed by

• Ben Affleck
• Aaron Stockard

Based on the novel by

• Dennis Lehane

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• DVD & Streaming

Gone Baby Gone

Content caution.

In Theaters

• Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie; Michelle Monaghan as Angie Gennaro; Morgan Freeman as Jack Doyle; Ed Harris as Remy Broussard; Amy Ryan as Helene McCready; John Ashton as Nick Poole

Home Release Date

• Ben Affleck

Distributor

• Miramax Films

Movie Review

Cataclysm can begin without a sound.

That’s the way it was with Amanda McCready, who vanished from her bed one night while her mother was away. The 4-year-old disappeared, as if she’d never been.

Her disappearance sparks a citywide obsession. The front of McCready’s Boston home is a circus, filled with policemen and camera crews. And, as Amanda’s mom looks on mournfully, her aunt sends a message to Amanda’s kidnappers: We won’t press charges—just give her back.

Police Chief Jack Doyle says he won’t rest until he saves her. But for Amanda’s aunt, it’s not enough. She hires two young private investigators, Patrick Kenzie and his girlfriend, Angie Gennaro, who know the McCready neighborhood and may be able to find people who won’t talk with the cops.

What they find is a dark, disturbing world. They discover that Amanda’s mother, Helene, wasn’t at a neighbor’s when Amanda disappeared, as she claimed, but snorting cocaine at a local dive. She’s a drug runner, too, and Amanda’s disappearance starts to look like retribution for a deal gone wrong.

As the case twists and turns, Patrick and Angie grow more and more involved with the case. They must find Amanda—no matter the cost.

Positive Elements

Gone Baby Gone is loaded with characters with the best of intentions. The road through this film is, in fact, paved with them.

Patrick is a tough, foul-mouthed guy raised on the mean streets, and he makes plenty of mistakes throughout the story. But he has an iron will and a strong (if sometimes warped) sense of justice. He stares down drug dealers and defends the honor of his girlfriend (albeit by coldcocking a guy propositioning her). And Patrick will do whatever he can to reunite Amanda with her mother.

Angie, meanwhile, only has eyes for the child’s well-being. When it appears that Amanda was thrown in a lake, Angie plunges in after her—a dive of 50 feet or so—injuring herself in the process.

Nearly every major character, it seems, has Amanda’s best interests at heart. Her aunt zealously searches for her. Det. Remy Broussard tells Patrick how much he loves children. Jack Doyle may want to save the girl more than anyone: His own daughter was kidnapped and killed years before.

“My little girl likely died crying out for me to save her,” he tells Patrick. “And I never did.”

Helene, meanwhile, appears almost indifferent to Amanda’s fate early on. But about midway through the search she comes to a greater awareness that this little girl—her little girl—is in grave danger, and we watch as Helene’s heart begins to break bit by bit.

Spiritual Elements

The spiritual groundwork for Gone Baby Gone is laid out at the very beginning, with Patrick solemnly reciting Matthew 10:16:

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

The movie is, in some ways, a morality tale—but one in which traditional choices of what’s right and wrong are turned on their heads. Its moral quandaries seem intended to force us to probe our traditional, largely Christian values.

Points are driven home through constant visual touchstones. Many characters wear crosses around their necks. Catholic icons of Jesus and Mary are seen in houses. After Angie gets injured trying to save Amanda, she stares at a cross on the wall of her hospital room. And when a detective dies in a shootout, he’s buried in a Russian Orthodox ceremony.

[ Spoiler Warning ] One heartbreaking bit of religious imagery is a medallion of St. Christopher, who in Catholic lore is said to have carried the Christ child across a river. An abducted and presumed dead 7-year-old boy was last seen wearing the medallion around his neck; Patrick later sees the medallion slung around the wrist of a convicted pedophile.

Patrick kills the pedophile, execution style, after seeing the body of the boy. Det. Broussard congratulates Patrick on a job well done, but Patrick responds by saying that shame is God’s way of telling him he’s done something wrong—and he’s filled with shame.

“Murder is a sin,” he tells Broussard. “Depends on who you do it to,” Broussard says. “That’s not how it works,” Patrick says. “It is what it is.”

Sexual Content

[ Spoiler Warning ] The pedophile took the boy in order to keep him as a sex slave. When Patrick bursts in on the man, he’s cowering in a corner, saying, “It was an accident.” We never see more than a glimpse of the boy’s dead face as he lies in a bathtub, but we do see his bloody underwear soaking in a sink, a soul-piercing image that leaves us to imagine in horror what the “accident” might have involved.

Thus, while sex is never suggested as a motivation for Amanda’s kidnapping, sexual themes form a steady undercurrent here.

Patrick remembers Helene from high school because she was apparently having sex with a schoolmate. When he mentions the high school connection to Helene, they joke that her old boyfriend became a “fag.” During an expletive-filled confrontation at a bar, a patron makes a couple of crude come-ons to Angie. A drug dealer named Cheese also forces Angie to lift up her shirt (revealing a black bra) to prove she hasn’t been wired by police. A woman in a skimpy halter top hovers around Cheese for part of the interview.

Violent Content

Detectives partake in a bloody shootout at the house of the pedophile and his two associates: One detective gets shot in the neck, and blood pours through his fingers as he tries to hold the wound shut. When the detective goes down, Patrick storms the house and finds one of the owners facedown in the living room, apparently dead. He’s chased through the house by a gun-wielding woman and stumbles upon the pedophile and the corpse of the child. He vomits.

The next thing moviegoers see is the pedophile on his knees, staring at the floor, a gun pointed at the back of his head. Patrick fires the weapon and blood sprays.

There’s also an intentionally confusing gunfight at a quarry reservoir in which at least one, possibly two people are killed. A masked man points a gun at Amanda’s Uncle Lionel at a bar. He’s gunned down by the bartender. And he dies slowly.

Patrick and Angie run into problems at another bar. Patrons lock the two in before Patrick flashes a gun—encouraging them to unlock the door. On the way out, a patron propositions Angie, and Patrick punches him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Detectives find Helene’s boyfriend dead—covered in blood and tied to a chair. Later, we learn the boyfriend was beaten with a pipe and shot in the chest.

Crude or Profane Language

At least 125 f-words. About 20 s-words. Armfuls of milder expletives include “a–,” “b–ch” and “d–n.” God’s and Jesus’ names are misused a half-dozen or so times each.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Helene is no June Cleaver. She goes to the bar almost every day and, according to Lionel, uses cocaine about three times a week. Bar regulars say she often brought Amanda with her, too. Helene confesses she’s a “mule,” meaning she sometimes transports drugs for Cheese.

We later see Cheese snorting cocaine, then lighting and smoking a cigarette or joint.

Lionel is a recovering alcoholic. And during a tense talk with Patrick at a bar, he orders three shots and a chaser. We see him drink one of the shots. “Twenty-three years is something, right?” he says.

Other Negative Elements

We learn that detectives Broussard and Poole once planted evidence in a guy’s house, effectively sending him to prison. Helene and her boyfriend have stolen money from Cheese.

[ Spoilers are necessary in order to fully deal with the morality—and immorality—of this movie. Several are found in this “Conclusion.” ]

After a tireless search, Patrick untangles the web around Amanda’s disappearance and finds her living at the home of Jack Doyle, the police chief. Turns out, the kidnapping was a plot to get the child away from bad-news Helene and into the hands of a family who could better care for her.

The discovery leaves Patrick with a hefty dilemma: leave the child with Jack and his wife, or call the police, who will return Amanda to her unstable, natural mother?

Patrick calls the cops.

But Gone Baby Gone wants us to hate this decision. Doyle oozes integrity. Helene is an absolute mess. We see flashes of humanity in her, but we all know what Amanda’s upbringing will be like if she returns to Helene’s custody.

Here’s the thing, though: If we fully engage with this take-it-or-leave-it decision the film forces on us, we have to come to grips with the fact that Patrick makes the absolute right call. It’s right legally. It’s right morally. Neighbors and “friends” just can’t go nabbing kids from their parents’ homes just because they think they’re bad parents.

And here’s another bit of truth: Not only do we have laws against snatching other people’s kids, but we also have systems to protect children from dangerously irresponsible parents. There are other remedies for Amanda than having a police chief steal her.

Film directors, lately, have fallen in love with vigilantism. Death Sentence. The Brave One. We Own the Night . Now add Gone Baby Gone , since it tells us that sometimes a greater good can be served by breaking the law. The logic that drives this affection falls apart, of course, when we begin to ask whose “greater good” we’re talking about. Society’s “greater good” can be drawn a thousand different ways. If we were all allowed to create and ignore laws based on the whims of our own internal moral compasses, some of us might start gunning down our neighbors because they let their grass grow too high.

This is why we place ourselves under higher authority—under God’s law and under a nation’s laws. We accept those laws because we know they’re good for us, even when they might have flaws and cracks in them.

Gone Baby Gone reminds us that we must always strive to wield these laws with fairness and compassion. But it also sets us up to question the laws themselves.

A postscript: Scripture is full of passages that remind us of what happens when everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes. Deuteronomy 12, Judges 17 and 21, Job 32, and Proverbs 12 and 21 all tackle this seemingly modern subject that is in reality nowhere near to being new under the sun.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Gone Baby Gone Review

06 Jun 2008

114 minutes

Gone Baby Gone

Crime novelist Dennis Lehane (who has also written episodes of The Wire) is known for the acute sense of place and mood of desolation he evokes in writing of working-class Boston, specifically the tough Dorchester area where he has lived all his life. Clint Eastwood’s masterful Mystic River captured Lehane’s world with operatic intensity. With the bleak but fascinating Gone Baby Gone - adapted, in some scenes almost verbatim, from the fourth of Lehane’s books about private investigator partners Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) - director Ben Affleck has taken a thoughtfully subdued approach to what is, it seems, his favourite novel. He sustains a concrete, authentic realism in what is, after all, his own hometown setting.

It’s a major directorial debut from Affleck, successfully combining the elements of a smart, intriguing police procedural with a distinctive Bostonian flavour and the psychological sophistication and moral complexity that distinguish the very best mystery thrillers. It also marks a stunning reversal of reputation for the man, whose credibility plunged from Academy Award-winning screenwriter (for Good Will Hunting) and Hollywood young lion through ignominies like his performance in daffy Armageddon and the full-time job of celebrity coupledom, obsessively paparazzi-chronicled, of the Bennifer years. A climb back to creative respect that began with his almost grudgingly praised performance in Hollywoodland is well and truly complete. Ben Affleck is no fool, and that’s official.

The plot is labyrinthine and on close inspection depends on some perhaps improbable clumsy mistakes, coincidences and convergences (although everyone in this claustrophobic ’hood plausibly has a shared past). But Affleck and co-writer Aaron Stockard (another of the tight Beantown buddies with whom the Afflecks and Matt Damon grew up) lay it out beautifully, coherently and heartbreakingly.

Unsurprisingly, all is not what it seems and people are devious, deceiving keepers of secrets and lies. The little girl may indeed have been snatched by a known serial paedophile, who the police quickly identify and pin for the outrage. But the child’s pathetic, spotlight-basking mother, Helene (Amy Ryan), is strangely, obnoxiously unhelpful and obviously knows more than she’s saying. Oscar nominee Ryan’s brilliantly observed, breathtakingly trashy character is a foul-mouthed boozer, user and generally skanky ho. Like Monaghan’s disapproving Angie, we are tempted to feel that wherever little Amanda is, unless it’s at the bottom of a quarry, she may be better off, and that her abductor or abductors, unless he, she or they are sexually deviant, may have simply beaten social services to the child’s rescue. Then there are the child’s aunt and uncle (Amy Madigan and Titus Welliver), apparently the only people in the world who gave a damn about Amanda before her disappearance, who begin to look shifty, too.

There is no shortage of potential suspects in the local criminal confraternity either, whose grievances, grudges and possible motives for revenge add strong undercurrents of suspicion. The police in the frame - Morgan Freeman’s respected, formidable Captain Jack Doyle, who has a strong personal motive to solve the case, and his dodgier lead detectives, Cajun hard man Remy Bressant (Ed Harris giving expert intimidation and inscrutability) and bullish sidekick Nick Poole (John Ashton) - have their agendas and are clearly working at resentful, patronising odds with Patrick, even when he demonstrates to them he knows what he’s about. Or, at least, naively thinks he does.

Patrick and Angie are young, which immediately ups the stakes and personal jeopardy for them. There are running comments on Patrick’s boyishness (like baby-faced Casey, he looks much younger than he is), which exacerbates the policemen’s hostility and disdain. And while the duo of seemingly amateurish sleuths are part of the neighbourhood fabric, at ease with the roughnecks and lowlifes, compared to most of the characters who surround them they are positively innocent. They don’t carry guns, and they seem happy and comfortable enough with their unambitious business tracking down missing people who are usually debtors and deadbeat dads. Patrick lives and works by a somewhat romantic gumshoe code of honour that gives him a certainty about what is just and right. Inevitably this mentality is going to doom him to a whole lot of heart-sick, soul-searching dismay when he finds himself looking at a palette of shades of grey. It is the more intuitive Angie who foresees what an unhappy outcome to the mysterious case of Amanda could do to them, both professionally and personally. She knows they are unprepared to swim in darker waters, and she is proven horribly right when they find themselves neck-deep in duplicity, murder, sociopathic drug dealers, horrific paedophiles, enigmatic cops and puzzles that can have no satisfactory solutions.

Some way into the film a nerve-shattering plot resolution seems to have been reached, but there is more to come. Clues and telling slips of the tongue are there for the alert, but the revelations that emerge, one after another, take us to disturbing places we could never expect.

In keeping with director Affleck’s reflective tone, his chief protagonist - another superlative turn from Casey Affleck, ensuring that he will never again be thought of as just ‘the kid brother’ - maintains an outer calm quietude, visibly and vocally holding Patrick’s churning emotions in check and putting over a mostly easy, relaxed-looking demeanour while microscopically suggesting Kenzie’s sharpness and overwhelming inner turmoil. Having come into his own with his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Affleck-the-younger proves it was no fluke in this flawless turn. Even in the seasoned company of Freeman, Harris and Madigan he commands the centre, in a drama that is compelling and demanding from start to finish. Pay attention to his opening voiceover, which is key to understanding why Patrick makes the difficult decision he has to live with at the end of the story.

Gone Baby Gone’s UK release was postponed from its original September 2007 scheduling over fears of causing offence or distress with its inevitable reminders of the Madeleine McCann case (the child actress in the film, whose name happens to be Madeline O’Brien, does resemble Maddy). But that tragedy shouldn’t be used to overshadow this completely unrelated story, superbly and thought-provokingly told.

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Pixar's new release plan might just be enough to make everyone happy (& turn things around for disney), alien: romulus image reveals franchise’s new android in tense cailee spaeny action scene, one of the best movies i have seen this year... highly recommended..

What comes to mind when you hear the name of Ben Affleck? I'll tell you what comes to my mind: a series of really bad career choices. For every Dogma on his résumé, he has a Gigli . For every Good Will Hunting , he has a Surviving Christmas . Indeed, for a while it seemed like he was destined to sit on the sidelines and do the Hollyweird equivalent of eating table scraps while his friend and fellow actor Matt Damon ended up with all the accolades and success. But then something surprising happened. He gave an impressive performance in a really good movie, Hollywoodland . Okay, I'll admit, he didn't remind me of George Reeves at all, but that didn't really matter to me. His performance was honest, charismatic and heartfelt. It was the best acting performance I had seen from him. For the first time in quite a while, it felt to me like Ben Affleck wasn't in Hollyweird by accident.

So what was my first reaction when I heard that Ben Affleck had co-written a movie starring his younger brother, and that he was going to make his feature film directorial debut with it? I'm not ashamed to admit that I snickered. However, after seeing the movie, I'm here to tell you that I was wrong. I really underestimated Affleck's abilities as a filmmaker. Not only is Gone Baby Gone one of the best movies I have seen this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ben Affleck receives a Best Director nomination.

Based on the book of the same name by Dennis Lehane (who also wrote Mystic River ), the movie centers around a four-year-old girl named Amanda McCready, who was abducted and has been missing for three days. Amanda is from a poor neighborhood, so her case doesn't receive the same attention it would if she were from a more affluent area. To get around that little problem, Amanda's aunt Beatrice (played by Amy Madigan) informs every media outlet she can think of, and soon the whole situation has turned into a media circus. Practically every cop in the area is assigned to the case, but Beatrice still isn't satisfied. She goes to Patrick Kenzie (played by Casey Affleck), a private investigator who specializes in finding missing people. Beatrice and her husband Lionel (played by Titus Welliver) want to hire Patrick and his girlfriend Angie (played by Michelle Monaghan) to help find their daughter. They see Patrick and Angie as street-smart people who can get information about Amanda's disappearance that the cops can't.

At this point, things start to become really complicated. Amanda's mother, Helene (played by Amy Ryan), is a real piece of work. Not only is she heavily involved in drugs, but she has also been a terrible mother to Amanda. To make matters worse, she's not really cooperating with the cops, giving them more attitude than helpful information. She seems more receptive to Patrick and Angie, much to the dismay of police chief Jack Doyle (played by Morgan Freeman), who reluctantly allows them to work with the two lead detectives on the case, Remy Bressant (played by Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (played by John Ashton). The cops already have several potential suspects identified, but Patrick finds out that Helene has been less than truthful in her version of events. The cops start to wonder if Amanda was abducted as an act of retaliation from one of Helene's drug connections. Will Patrick and the police be able to work together to solve the case? Will Amanda be found alive, even though the odds are heavily against it? Will all kinds of twists and turns happen along the way?

What I like most about the movie, first and foremost, is Ben Affleck's direction. He is smart enough to see that the story is about Boston — the city, the neighborhoods and the people — as much as it's about the missing girl, Amanda. Indeed, the community seems to heavily integrate itself into the story, affecting how the characters think, what they do and what they don't do. The cast is full of top-notch talent; Casey Affleck does an admirable job of playing what is undoubtedly a very challenging role. And what can I say about Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris' acting abilities that hasn't already been said? What I also like about the movie are the intellectual aspects of the story. In most movies, the right choices are obvious, but not in this movie. Nothing is cut-and-dry here; "right" and "wrong" are very subjective terms in the context of this story. Is doing what's "right" really the best choice in a particular situation? I'm a big fan of movies that force you to stop and think.

What didn't I like so much? Well, I have a few nitpicks that prevented me from giving this movie a perfect five-star rating. First, the character of Patrick has several run-ins with people that result in violence while he's out gathering information about Amanda. I suppose there's some of that involved with being street-smart, but it seems to me that if I wanted to be a "man on the street," I would have an easier time getting information if I settled my disputes as peacefully as I could, rather than waving a gun around and spewing profanity. Second, I felt like some of the story arcs went way over the top, beyond the point of seeming believable. However, neither of those nitpicks was enough to seriously detract from my ability to enjoy and appreciate the movie.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, and I highly recommend it. It's not lighthearted fare, by any means, but it didn't drag me down emotionally the way Mystic River did. Even though the subject matter is dark and heavy, Ben Affleck does a good job of keeping the sordid details to a minimum and keeping the focus on the story and the characters. As I said earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if he receives a Best Director nomination. If he keeps this up, he might actually have a future in that little town called Hollyweird.

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Gone baby gone, common sense media reviewers.

Deeply affecting crime thriller for grownups.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

This is a dark and dreary world, peopled by junkie

Heavy and brutal, and a sense of menace pervades t

Some kissing and sexual innuendos, but nothing exp

Strong and frequent, including "c--ksucker,&q

Nothing really obvious. Names of some drugs and th

Viewers don't really see any explicit scenes i

Parents need to know that this crime thriller (which is Ben Affleck's directorial debut) is so disturbing in spots that it may even make adults flinch. It doesn't shy away from the story's dark elements -- of which a 4-year-old's abduction is just the beginning. There's also neglect, drug use,…

Positive Messages

This is a dark and dreary world, peopled by junkies, neglectful parents, drug dealers, corrupt cops, and morally bankrupt city officials. They lie and hurt to protect themselves and their livelihood, sometimes to the detriment of a child's life.

Violence & Scariness

Heavy and brutal, and a sense of menace pervades the film. Guns are trained on people at point-blank range and fired fairly frequently, killing more than one victim (one scene reveals what happens when someone is shot in the head). Realistic, painful barroom brawls. Crimes are perpetrated against children, who are also severely neglected.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Some kissing and sexual innuendos, but nothing explicit. Some references to sexual acts.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong and frequent, including "c--ksucker," "pu--y," jackass," and the always-popular "f--k."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Nothing really obvious. Names of some drugs and the occasional store signage.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Viewers don't really see any explicit scenes in which characters shoot up or snort drugs, but there's lots of talk about it, including discussion of "bumping rails" (snorting drugs) in bathrooms and doing heroin. Plenty of drinking, especially in dark, seedy bars.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this crime thriller (which is Ben Affleck's directorial debut) is so disturbing in spots that it may even make adults flinch. It doesn't shy away from the story's dark elements -- of which a 4-year-old's abduction is just the beginning. There's also neglect, drug use, barroom brawls, gunplay, murder, and plenty of strong language (including "f--k"). That said, older teens and grown ups who do end up seeing it will likely be able to look past the base, repugnant characters and appreciate the leads, who are compassionate and dedicated and fight for justice. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 3 parent reviews

More irritating than enjoyable

What's the story.

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name, Ben Affleck 's directorial debut GONE BABY GONE stars Affleck's younger brother, Casey , in a subtle-yet-powerful performance as Patrick Kenzie. Patrick is a two-bit detective roped into the big time when he and his partner (business and otherwise), Angie Gennarro ( Michelle Monaghan ), are recruited by a neighbor to help investigate the disappearance of 4-year-old Amanda McCready (Madeline O'Brien). Amanda isn't like many of the kids who unfortunately find themselves plastered on network news when they're abducted; she's from Dorchester, a hardscrabble South Boston community addled by drugs and crime. Her mother, Helene (Amy Ryan, in a stunningly affecting -- and effective -- turn), is a junkie, and her father is nowhere to be found. Victims like Amanda are apt to fall through the proverbial cracks: Already, the cops haven't turned up anything. Despite their misgivings, Patrick and Angie may be the only hope Amanda has, but their choice to get involved -- and stay involved even when answers have already been "found" -- may change them, and their relationship, forever.

Is It Any Good?

An impressive, confidently helmed vehicle that ably mixes grit with heart, Gone Baby Gone lays to rest any impression that Affleck's talent, much-lauded in the Good Will Hunting days, is no more. From the first frame on, Ben Affleck's affection -- and, more important, his respect -- for his native city is palpable; rather than romanticize it, he presents it as is, with the ugliness intact. Much has been made of the lengths he took to be authentic (he shot in Dorchester and cast locals in nearly every scene) and it pays off. The movie thankfully lacks the gloss of many other crime movies, even those that are well done (like Out of Sight , for example). Even the twist ending feels less like a device and more like an essential plot development. Lehane's story is grim, as is the film's palate and tone. It may even outdo another lauded Lehane-inspired film, Mystic River .

The film does take time to find its footing early on, slightly hobbled by too much exposition (this is the drug dealer; here's the possibly corrupt cop; etc.). And Angie's character is sadly lightweight (though Monaghan gives it the old college try). But Gone Baby Gone quickly gets into a groove, thanks in no small part to a stellar cast -- can Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris do wrong? -- and a script, penned by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, that isn't afraid to be ambiguous and complicated. Much like this new incarnation of Affleck himself.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why people will want to see this movie -- because of the story, or because Ben Affleck directed it? Why do you think some actors choose to go into directing? Which role gives them more power within the media industry, and why? Families can also discuss how the media handles stories about missing people, particularly children. Do you think cases are covered differently based on their circumstances (i.e. a child being kidnapped from a tough, working-class neighborhood instead of a pretty, manicured suburb)? If so, why?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 18, 2007
• On DVD or streaming : February 11, 2008
• Cast : Casey Affleck , Ed Harris , Morgan Freeman
• Director : Ben Affleck
• Inclusion Information : Black actors
• Studio : Miramax
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 114 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence, drug content and pervasive language.
• Last updated : March 12, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Gone Baby Gone

Details: 2007, USA, Cert 15, 114 mins

Direction: Ben Affleck

Genre: Crime / Drama

Summary: Two private eyes take on the case of a missing four-year-old girl in Boston, and soon unravel a frightening chain of lies and corruption.

With: Amy Ryan ,  Casey Affleck ,  Ed Harris ,  Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Freeman

Our reviews

Philip french.

Philip French's film of the week: Delayed by the McCann case, Ben Affleck's intense and gripping thriller is well worth the wait

Peter Bradshaw

Peter Bradshaw: A smart thriller about an abducted child pulls debut director Ben Affleck off the career trapdoor

Mark Kermode

Ben Affleck demonstrates that his future may lie behind the camera with this haunting, melancholic tale

User reviews

Related articles, a life in writing: dennis lehane.

'I've always been fascinated with loss of innocence or corruption of the soul at a young age'

Breaking news broke my movie

What scuppered the chances of Ben Affleck's latest film? This time he can't blame the critics, says Andrea Hubert . Events in Portugal on the other hand...

Back baby back

Stung by the 'Bennifer' affair and a string of turkeys, Ben Affleck slipped under the radar. Will his new film, Gone Baby Gone, put him back in the game? By Ryan Gilbey

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Gone Baby Gone Reviews

As it goes from a classic detective story to a moral fable, the movie gains intensity. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 27, 2023

Baby’s Beantown mystery benefits from Ben Affleck proving he’s a decent director with a knack for nailing the local Boston color of Dennis Lehane’s book. Then it comes time to wrap things up and splat.

Full Review | Sep 8, 2023

An affecting morality play that leaves us pondering the movie for days.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 2, 2023

What it lacks in catharsis it makes up for in gritty realism and tense moral struggles.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 24, 2020

The denizens of the Affleck brothers' furious adaptation of Dennis Lehane's excursion into the lower depths of Boston's Southie Irish hood are loud, uncouth, hyperviolent and endlessly fascinating.

Full Review | May 26, 2020

With a superlative cast and a hauntingly riveting story, Gone Baby Gone is one film that won't be gone from our hearts or minds for a long time.

Full Review | Nov 7, 2019

This is a film that isn't afraid to tackle a moral dilemma with great conviction. Here's hoping that Ben Affleck can continue to build on his current momentum.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 29, 2019

Ben Affleck has proven himself to be a skilled director, here's hoping this is a harbinger of great things to come.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 6, 2019

It's a P.I. movie with the feel of an indie drama, set in the working class neighborhoods of Boston and filled with characters that feel like they've lived on the streets all their lives ...

Full Review | Jul 1, 2017

An out-and-out triumph for the Brothers Affleck.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 5, 2015

This is A-grade stuff: well-plotted, unpredictable and grounded in reality from start to finish.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 14, 2012

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 18, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

As an actor, Ben Affleck might be a supporting player trapped in a leading man's body, but as a filmmaker he's an auspicious talent.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 14, 2011

A truly stellar directorial debut by Ben Affleck.

Full Review | Apr 5, 2011

Because it mostly succeeds, now that [Affleck's] got this and that good under-seen performance in Hollywoodland under his belt, he can hold his head high again.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 4, 2011

A tense meditation on morality in the modern world, Gone Baby Gone is a superb crime thriller featuring a star performance from Casey Affleck. If crime drama is your thing, it really doesn't get much better than this.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 22, 2011

The Affleck boys finally earn their stripes as cinematic artists

Full Review | Aug 27, 2009

Gone Baby Gone is an argument for obligation over accommodation, the absolute over the contingent.

Full Review | Sep 18, 2008

Affleck proved that his Good Will Hunting moment wasn't an aberration, and he also showed that he didn't need Matt Damon in tow to make a great movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 18, 2008

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Gone Baby Gone

By Paul Krugman

• Oct. 22, 2007

It pains me to say this, but this time Alan Greenspan is right about housing.

Mr. Greenspan was wrong in 2004, when he sang the praises of adjustable-rate mortgages. He was wrong in 2005, when he dismissed the idea that there was a national housing bubble, suggesting that at most there was some “froth” in the market. He was wrong last fall, when he suggested that the worst of the housing slump was behind us. (Housing starts have fallen 30 percent since then.)

But his latest pronouncement — that the market rescue plan being pushed by Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, is likely to make things worse rather than better — looks all too accurate.

To understand why, we need to talk about the nature of the mess.

First of all, as I could have told you — actually, I did — there was indeed a huge national housing bubble.

What even those of us who realized that there was a bubble didn’t appreciate, however, was how much of a threat the bursting of that bubble would pose to financial markets.

Today, when a bank makes a home loan, it doesn’t hold on to it. Instead, it quickly sells the mortgage off to financial engineers, who chop up, repackage and resell home loans pretty much the way supermarkets chop up, repackage and resell meat.

It’s a business model that depends on trust. You don’t know anything about the cows that contributed body parts to your package of ground beef, so you have to trust the supermarket when it assures you that the beef is U.S.D.A. prime. You don’t know anything about the subprime mortgage loans that were sliced, diced and pureed to produce that mortgage-backed security, so you have to trust the seller — and the rating agency — when it assures you that it’s a AAA investment.

But in the case of housing-related investments, investors’ trust was betrayed. Supposedly safe investments suddenly turned into junk bonds when the housing bubble burst. High profits reported by hedge funds — profits that were reflected in huge payments to the fund managers — turn out to have been based on wishful thinking.

Thus, when two hedge funds run by Ralph Cioffi of Bear Stearns imploded last summer, it came as a huge shock to many investors, and helped trigger a market panic. But a recent BusinessWeek report shows that the funds were a disaster waiting to happen. The funds borrowed huge amounts, and invested the proceeds in questionable mortgage-backed securities.

Even worse, “more than 60 percent of their net worth was tied up in exotic securities whose reported value was estimated by Cioffi’s own team.” We’re profitable because we say we are — just trust us. That hasn’t ever caused problems, has it?

Stories like this have led to a crisis of confidence. The current yield on one-month U.S. government bills is only 3.41 percent, an amazingly low number, and a sign that people are parking their money in government debt because they don’t trust private borrowers. And the result is a shortage of liquidity — the ability to raise cash — that is greatly damaging the economy.

Which brings us to the rescue plan proposed by a group of large banks, with Mr. Paulson’s backing.

Right now the bleeding edge of the crisis in confidence involves worries that there may be large losses hidden inside so-called “structured investment vehicles” — basically hedge funds that borrow from the public and invest the proceeds in mortgage-backed securities. The new plan would create a “super-fund,” the Master Liquidity Enhancement Conduit, which would seek to restore confidence by, um, borrowing from the public and investing the proceeds in mortgage-backed securities.

The plan, in other words, looks like an attempt to solve the problem with smoke and mirrors.

That might work if there were no good reason for investors to be worried. But in this case, investors have very good reasons to worry: the bursting of the housing bubble means that someone, somewhere, has to accept several trillion dollars in losses. A significant part of these losses will fall on mortgage-backed securities. And given this reality, the “conduit” looks like a really bad idea.

I’d put it like this: Investors aren’t putting their money to work because they don’t know where the bad debts are. And when investors need clarity, the last thing you want to be doing is pumping out more smoke.

Mr. Greenspan’s take, expressed in an interview with the magazine Emerging Markets, seems broadly similar. “If you believe some form of artificial non-market force is propping up the market,” he said, “you don’t believe the market price has exhausted itself.”

Translated: this rescue scheme could be seen as an attempt to hide the bad debts everyone knows are out there, and as a result could delay any return of trust to the markets.

Alan Greenspan is making sense.

Gone Baby Gone Movie Review: A Crime Film for Crime Lovers

Ben Affleck’s complicated and assured 2007 directorial debut Gone Baby Gone was a major surprise coming from a first-time director. Scroll down to read Nick Clement’s Gone Baby Gone movie review!

Rather than churning out an empty action film as his first directorial effort, Affleck, along with co-writer Aaron Stockard, skillfully adapted a morally complex crime novel from Mystic River author Denis Lehane.

Affleck relied upon certain genre tropes (aesthetic and thematic) to propel the piece in key spots.

The film was directed with a veteran’s touch in many instances, and felt uncommonly mature for a first-timer. It no doubt was smart of Affleck to surround himself with top-flight craftspeople in all departments.

Working with a splendid cast of veteran actors as well as recruiting amateurs from the streets of Boston, Affleck showed an immediate ability during the opening moments of Gone Baby Gone with setting a strong atmosphere and authentic flavor.

The story takes place in the working-class, low-income neighborhoods surrounding Beantown, where drug abuse, crime, and poverty are common.

Affleck, a Boston native, has an intrinsic knowledge of these neighborhoods and the people. This results in a film that feels natural and believable, no matter how sordid the particulars of the story get.

Affleck didn’t make an empty action film as his directorial debut. He went and adapted a morally complex crime novel instead – Nick Clement

Casey Affleck had a banner year in 2007, giving terrific performances here and in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In Gone Baby Gone , he’s private investigator Patrick Kenzie, a low-key private-eye who when push comes to shove isn’t afraid to get nasty.

He lives and works with his girlfriend Angie, played by the pretty yet slightly miscast Michelle Monaghan. They are approached for help by the aunt and uncle of a local four-year-old girl who has disappeared from her apartment. The girl’s mother, Helene, played with diseased, white-trash intensity by Amy Ryan, is a semi-junkie who can barely take care of herself, let alone a child.

The cops are on the case as well. Led by police captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), and detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris), though their loyalties remain a mystery.

Gone Baby Gone is almost two movies in one.

Packed full of multiple story-lines all adding up to a sad but honest conclusion. The moral ambiguity that Gone Baby Gone revels in results in an interesting picture to watch.

Gone Baby Gone Dialogue

Some of the actions taken by the characters are questionable. But when you think about some of the nastier and tougher choices that the characters have to make, you might find yourself agreeing with how things end up playing out.

People “get what they deserve” in this movie. There’s a thrill that comes with this overall mentality. “Murder is a sin,” Kenzie quietly remarks to Bressant at a crucial moment in the film. “Depends on who you do it too,” Bressant coolly retorts. It’s a powerful, simple exchange of dialogue.

It provides the audience with an extra layer of insight into an already complicated series of events.

Casey Affleck is positively riveting all throughout Gone Baby Gone . Ditching the purposefully mannered and rigid technique that he brought to his work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , the role of Kenzie seems like a role that Affleck was born to play. His non-threatening physical attributes clash with his hot temper.

While holding a gun Affleck looks and feels like a young private investigator.

Even though he may seem too baby-faced for the part upon first sight think again.

Any doubt in your mind will be erased immediately after the first act.

Harris, who seems incapable of ever being bad or uninteresting on-screen, tore up his scenes with a vicious ferocity that only a few actors seem to be able to channel. This is a brooding, menacing film that requires brooding, menacing screen presence, and Harris is right at home.

Freeman, in a slightly different role than what he’s normally asked to do, is his usual suave self. But it’s Amy Ryan who totally stuns as Helene, the disgusting, reprehensible mother of the missing child. Never seeming to truly care about her daughter’s disappearance, Ryan creates a portrait of a mommy-monster that is chilling in its persuasiveness.

Gone Baby Gone is a crime film for crime film lovers.

The story lives in and travels to some tough, upsetting places. Gone Baby Gone features people who are all wounded, either emotionally or physically (or both).

The overriding sense of grime and filth leaves you feeling a little skeevy by the end of it.

Gone Baby Gone movie review by Nick Clement

Gone Baby Gone is powerfully written and directed and acted, and it’s a piece of entertainment that will leave you discussing its themes and story implications long after you’ve watched.

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Nick Clement

Nick Clement is a freelance writer, having contributed to Variety Magazine, Hollywood- Elsewhere, Awards Daily, Back to the Movies (of course), and Taste of Cinema.

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• Next Article in Entertainment »

(CNN) -- With the exception of his character turn in last year's "Hollywoodland," Ben Affleck hasn't exactly distinguished himself with his choice of roles of late. Indeed, he's become such a media punching bag there may be a temptation to hyperbolize his first directing effort, "Gone Baby Gone," based on fellow Bostonian Dennis Lehane's novel. The truth is he's done a damn good job.

Casey Affleck plays a Boston private investigator in "Gone Baby Gone."

"Gone Baby Gone" isn't always a smooth ride, but it's a challenging, adult thriller guaranteed to foster fierce debate on the way home.

Lehane's story features the boyfriend-girlfriend private eye team of Patrick Kenzie and Angie Genarro. Their coupling isn't unique -- after all, Dashiell Hammett wrote about the married Nick and Nora Charles more than 70 years ago -- but it's still unusual enough to bring a few new angles to the well-thumbed P.I. genre.

Affleck, who also co-wrote the script with Aaron Stockard, has cast his younger brother Casey as Kenzie, with Michelle Monaghan (from "Mission: Impossible III") as Genarro. They make a nice couple, but don't get your hopes up for a "Thin Man"-like series. That's definitely not on the agenda.

This is one of those cases bigger than the sleuth who solves it. Like Lehane's "Mystic River," it involves the abuse and abduction of a child (before he became a full-time writer, Lehane worked as a counselor with abused children). Four-year-old Amanda McCready is missing, presumed snatched from her bed while her mom was visiting a friend next door.

Amanda's distraught aunt and uncle (Amy Madigan and Titus Welliver) show up at Kenzie's apartment, ignore the crap all over the floor, and hire them to join the inquiry. Angie -- she's the intuitive one, naturally -- doesn't want to get into an investigation that has an unhappy ending written all over it, and anyway, what can they hope to achieve that the cops can't?

But stubborn, determined Patrick doesn't see it that way. He's from the neighborhood -- blue-collar Dorchester -- and he knows people. He even remembers Helene (Amy Ryan), Amanda's messed-up mom; they went to the same lousy school of hard knocks. Maybe he can do some good here.

Probably the smartest thing Affleck did was surround himself with talent: cinematographer John Toll shot "The Thin Red Line" and "Braveheart"; editor William Goldenberg cut his teeth on Michael Mann's movies.

He's also capitalized on his local knowledge. Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese worked hard to bring Boston to life in "Mystic River" and "The Departed," respectively, but "Gone Baby Gone" feels more intimately grounded in the dirty streets and scummy bars, and the aggressive pride that comes with them. You couldn't call it a love letter to Beantown -- it's too edgy and abrasive for that -- but love-hate, maybe.

The movie tugs hard on that authenticity because Lehane's elaborate plotting works better on the page than on screen, where its cleverness inevitably feels a bit suspect. And while it's easy to sympathize with Affleck's impulse to slot Morgan Freeman into the gravitas-heavy role of a police department official, it's his only serious misjudgment. The casting puts the spotlight in the wrong place at the wrong time. Where Affleck sees only a great actor, the audience recognizes a star and wonders what he's doing there. (Fortunately, the use of Ed Harris -- playing a police detective -- doesn't detract at all.)

Casey Affleck isn't a star -- not yet, anyhow -- but he's using that to his advantage. In this movie, as in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," the physically slight, baby-faced actor is called upon to soak up a lot of patronizing put-downs. But he draws strength from every insult: Patrick's tougher than he looks, and when push comes to shove he's ready to prove it.

Still, he's no Bogart (or William Powell, for that matter). If he shoots somebody, he worries about it afterwards. And he keeps on worrying even after he's got the answers he was looking for. What's a dick to do if those answers don't solve anything? What if they only make things worse?

And Angie Genarro? She's the priest in this movie, on hand to offer benediction, forgiveness and ultimately penance. Whether her partner deserves better or worse is just one of the troubling question marks this superior mystery thriller dares to leave hanging in the air.

No question about Ben Affleck, though. "Gone Baby Gone" is a terrific film. This time the boy done good.

From the Blogs: Controversy, commentary, and debate

Sit tight, we're getting to the good stuff.

Gone Baby Gone (United States, 2007)

Gone Baby Gone is powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand. The best mystery novels are the ones that use the genre as a stepping-off point for developing characters and examining issues. First-time director Ben Affleck has successfully captured the essence of a written mystery on the screen. The production engages viewers not only on an emotional level but on an intellectual one. As the onion-like layers of the story are peeled away to reveal new ethical dilemmas that force the lead character to question what truly is "right," we are invited to answer those questions alongside him then evaluate whether the consequences of his choices justify the decisions he made. It's a rare motion picture that provides such an uncompromising perspective of what is right and what is moral.

Affleck, perhaps deciding that the future looks better behind the camera than in front of it, makes a debut that could only be called auspicious. This is a mature film, and Affleck was clearly determined the use every ounce of the skill he possesses to do it right ( Gone Baby Gone is his favorite book). It helps to start with solid source material, and the novel is as complex and intriguing as another Dennis Lehane effort, Mystic River , which was turned into a memorable movie not so long ago by actor-turned-director Clint Eastwood.

As the film opens, we are introduced to the boyfriend/girlfriend private investigator team of Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan). They are approached by Lionel and Beatrice McCready (Titus Welliver and Amy Madigan), whose young niece, Amanda (Madeline O'Brien), has been kidnapped. Patrick and Angie reluctantly take the case, only to be faced by a wall of opposition comprised of the girl's bitter, drug-addicted mother, Helene (Amy Ryan); the police chief, Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman); and the two cops working the case, Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton). It doesn't take long before Patrick and Angie discover a critical clue but their best efforts cannot prevent the tragedies that force them both to re-consider key life values.

To discuss the dilemmas faced by Patrick and Angie would be to reveal too much of the plot. Suffice it to say they are powerful and divisive. It's easy to see both sides of the arguments. The film also doesn't back away from showing consequences, and the phrase "no good deed goes unpunished" comes to mind more than once. The film's final scene points to a possible future beyond the end credits that makes one feel nothing but sympathy for one of the characters sitting on that sofa at the end.

Since this is a mystery/thriller, it should come as no surprise to learn that the film does not proceed in a straightforward manner. Gone Baby Gone employs twists and misdirection, some of which is predictable and some of which is not. Those paying attention will not experience a big "eureka!" moment (there is one, but it is heavily foreshadowed), but the plot is serpentine enough to keep the viewer involved and uncertain of what the next corner will reveal. The film is comprised of three distinct acts. The first two are only tangentially related but the third one dovetails with what has preceded it and ties everything together.

I haven't seen enough of Casey Affleck to make an assessment of his range an actor. As in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , his approach is low-key even in high intensity scenes. My impression is that he's more of a character actor than a lead, but he is effective as Patrick. This isn't an Oscar-worthy performance but neither is it a problem. Likewise, Michelle Monaghan's portrayal of Angie is workmanlike. The best performances come from (not unexpectedly) Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and (perhaps unexpectedly) Amy Ryan. All three get maximum value out of their screen time. Ryan, playing Amanda's mother, is especially noteworthy. She humanizes a vile person, showing vulnerability alongside a startling streak of neglect and self-centeredness. Freeman plays someone whose nobility may be a little tarnished and Harris gets to explore a wide range of traits.

With his first feature, Affleck has made an indelible mark on the fall 2007 movie season. He may have taken audiences by surprise this time, but he will be watched in the future. The strength of the film's subject matter and the intelligence and perceptiveness with which it is approached make this not merely an October diversion but a genuine Oscar contender. It's not an easy film because it challenges us and, while the final scene offers closure, it does so with a side dish of painful ambiguity. Gone Baby Gone has a legitimate shot for placement on my end-of-the-year list of 2007's Top 10 films.

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The Ending Of Gone Baby Gone Explained

If you ask a random member of the public to name a movie written and/or directed by Ben Affleck, you're probably going to get Good Will Hunting or Argo , or possibly even  The Town . But 10 years after Good Will Hunting  rescued him from several forgettable roles  and helped to establish him as a serious actor and writer, Ben Affleck made his feature directorial debut with the twisty mystery flick,  Gone Baby Gone . Despite great reviews and even a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for Amy Ryan (aka Holly from  The Office ), Gone Baby Gone  became one of those  critically acclaimed films that failed to see great traction at movie theaters. 

Affleck also co-wrote the screenplay, which was based on a novel from Dennis Lehane. Set in Boston (of course), the movie starred his brother Casey Affleck as private investigator Patrick Kenzie, who is hired by the aunt and uncle of a missing four-year-old named Amanda (Madeline O'Brien). Patrick and his work partner, Angie (Michelle Monaghan, who you may know from a certain underrated Robert Downey Jr. movie ), initially believe that a drug dealer has kidnapped Amanda to get revenge against her mother Helene (Ryan), who worked as his drug mule and stole money from him. However, after a planned exchange between the dealer and the police goes wrong, Patrick slowly realizes that details about the case don't add up — and the cops know more than they're letting on.

Gone Baby Gone explores what is right vs. what is just

In the final minutes of Gone Baby Gone , Patrick visits police captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), having figured out that the police department conspired to take Amanda from her neglectful mother Helene, and give her a stable and loving home with Doyle and his wife. Sure enough, a very much alive Amanda runs out the front door and happily hugs Doyle.

The confrontation between Doyle and Patrick sums up a central conflict explored in Gone Baby Gone : is it ever right to do something that is illegal and widely deemed to be immoral (e.g. kidnapping a child) because you believe that it will lead to a happier outcome than anything the official justice system will deliver?

In this scene, Doyle argues that if Amanda stays with Helene, she'll probably go down the same dismal path as her mother. He arranged the kidnapping, he says, "for the sake of the child." Patrick argues that Helene is Amanda's mother and therefore has the right to raise her. He says that even if Doyle could give Amanda more emotional support and material possessions, at some point she will learn the truth and feel cheated out of knowing her biological family.

However, Patrick hasn't always been so clear about extrajudicial decisions. After once discovering the body of a child at a pedophile's house, he executed the pedophile on the spot. When another cop, Remy (Ed Harris), tells him that he did the right thing, and admits to planting evidence on a different man so his child would be taken away, Patrick disagrees. He says he wouldn't commit the murder again, if given a second chance. Remy says, "Doesn't make it wrong, though, does it?" Patrick doesn't respond.

Gone Baby Gone is secretly a rogue cop story

In Gone Baby Gone , an interesting layer in the debate between extrajudicial actions versus obeying legal processes is the fact that the people doing the former are police officers. As a private investigator, Patrick is arguably in a better position to operate in grey areas, because he does so as a private citizen, not as a representative of the criminal justice system. But when the chips are down, he's the one who believes in following the law — at least in theory.

True stories about police committing acts of vigilante justice typically revolve around corruption and horrific brutality . But the Hollywoodized version of the rogue police officer usually portrays the character as someone willing to bend the rules because that's what it takes to catch "the bad guys." These movies don't often stop to interrogate what "bad guys" actually means.

The ending of Gone Baby Gone fits this trope. The movie's big twist revolves around fooling us into thinking that Remy's involvement in the kidnap is about money, only to reveal that the whole police department was acting in what it believed was Amanda's best interest. The movie leans on the ultimate bad guy — adults who hurt children — to push us to ditch any lingering conflict we have about such pesky things as due process. By the final scene, even Patrick is doubting his decision after he finds Helene leaving her daughter unsupervised to go on a night out.

Gone Baby Gone is slicker than your average cop action thriller, and it likes to play up its debates around morality. But in the end, it's a drama about police framing and even murdering civilians in the name of achieving their own brand of justice.

Gone Baby Gone is available to stream on Paramount+.

Gone Baby Gone

Review by brian eggert october 20, 2007.

If I could write a review saying simply “See this movie!” and nothing else, and trust that you would go and see it based on my three-word recommendation, I would. Alas, most moviegoers need more convincing before dropping $8.50 on a ticket. Occasionally, a motion picture is released that, as a critic, requires I restrict myself from divulging one detail too many from prospective viewers. Gone Baby Gone is such a movie. Walking into my screening, I knew little more about it than the cast, title, and director, and perhaps that other critics had given it positive ratings. And that’s the ideal way to see any movie—to take it in without expectation or preconceived notions.

Helmed by first-time director Ben Affleck, the story is based on Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name (except written Gone, Baby, Gone with commas). If you recall, Lehane’s novel Mystic River was adapted by Brian Helgeland for Clint Eastwood in 2003. The stories follow a similar path: both are set in Boston; both involve plot elements of kidnapping and sexual abuse; both contain staggering turns of character. These turns are not gimmicky plot elements we see coming from a mile down the road. They infer an affecting morality play that leaves us pondering the movie for days.

Casey Affleck, Ben’s younger brother, stars as Patrick Kenzie. He and his girlfriend, Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), work together as private detectives, searching out debtors and degenerates that don’t want to be found. Their business is local, and they’re good at their job because they know the neighborhood. They know Boston. On the news, they catch word of a 4-year-old girl who was taken from her home. It’s a media circus. Everyone in the neighborhood, dozens of cops, and media galore are virtually camped in the mother Helene’s (Amy Ryan) front yard.

The mother’s sister-in-law Beatrice (Amy Madigan) and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver) go to Kenzie and Gennaro, seeking the duo’s neighborhood familiarity to assist police in finding their niece. Perhaps people who won’t talk to the police will talk to them. Kenzie admits he’s never handled that type of missing person case. Gennaro is afraid to get involved, fearing that finding a dead or abused child would be too much. These are honest people just trying to do good—but what does “good” mean?

Head of a local missing children’s unit, Chief Doyle (Morgan Freeman), sways Kenzie and Gennaro against getting involved but concedes to extend them unenthusiastic professional courtesies. They’re to meet and exchange information with detectives Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton). I won’t disclose details of their investigation, other than to say clues are everywhere. We may not notice them because Affleck’s direction relies on subtleties of character, not of zoom-ins on key plot devices or dun-dun-dunnnnn music at significant moments. Characters remain human, as opposed to cliché movie mystery roles, allowing us to submit fully, and be caught off guard by where the story goes.

Our greatest shock, outside of the enthralling narrative, comes from Casey Affleck’s second powerhouse performance this year. Last month audiences likely (and regrettably) missed out on seeing The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , because Warner Bros. buried the picture with a limited release. Casey Affleck played said assassin, suggesting undertones of sexual obsession and idolization. And now, with Gone Baby Gone , the younger Affleck brother gives his second Oscar-worthy performance of 2007. Both performances rely on Affleck’s ability to display vulnerability just visible under the surface, as both Patrick Kenzie and Robert Ford are characters engulfed in something or someone. Casey has come a long way from “balloon-boy” in Ocean’s Eleven , now graduating beyond one stroke-of-luck performance with the help of his elder brother.

Ben Affleck himself is a considerable talent when he’s behind the camera. People seem to forget his Oscar win (shared with long-time buddy Matt Damon) for Best Original Screenplay in 1997 on Good Will Hunting . Audiences still haven’t forgiven him for Pearl Harbor , Reindeer Games , or Gigli , nor for his tabloid exploits, but they should be praising him for his passion projects, limited as they may be. Despite his onscreen mediocrity, as a writer and director, he creates profound naturalism with brutal, authentic dialogue. His camera paints a near-candid portrait of Boston, shooting real-life bar crowds and neighborhoods in what looks like guerilla filmmaking—these are people with character burned into their faces, not Hollywood actors. Narratively speaking, it recalls the viciousness of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed with corruptibility found in Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River .

Boston has become a place in cinema where characters test themselves by discovering a layer of their persona they never knew existed. That can be said for all of the above-mentioned Bostonian pictures. It’s being depicted as a city of camaraderie and community. Yet, in that community exist seemingly normal people who do despicable things. It’s a nice little metaphor for human nature—well-meaning, but generally cruel.

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Gone Baby Gone

David Crockett

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Release date.

Oct 19, 2007

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Official website.

• gonebabygone-themovie.com

A script adapted from a novel by the masterful Dennis Lehane ( Mystic River , The Wire ); a crackling cast (Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris); and the curious fact of Ben Affleck’s virgin directorial expedition—this flick’s got all kinds of pull. But we’re all about Affleck’s baby brother Casey, the family’s star ascendant . In his role as a dogged dime-store detective, Casey Affleck, David Edelstein says, “has never had a pedestal like the one his brother provides him, and he earns it.”

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