Gone Baby Gone

Ben Affleck is hereby forever to stay behind the camera and Casey Affleck in front. That is my official pronouncement. Based on this film - this is the natural order of things. Gone Baby Gone is based on a Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) novel, which was a good start to begin with, is directed by Ben (who knew?) and Casey is the star. Damn. I am rarely blown away be a directorial debut, but here you go. Ben runs with this story and makes a film, with no small measure of terrific acting, that will hang with you for days.

A little girl goes missing in Boston and the child's aunt hires a couple of young private investigators to look into the part of the neighborhood unlikely to talk to the cops. The more they look the worse it gets, from the hard drug use of the girl's mother, to the questionable demeanor of the cops. Patrick (Casey Affleck) has a bad case of ethics and all these questions stick in his craw, until it all unravels and he's faced with a horrible decision. It's the ultimate game of "what would YOU do?"

The cast is remarkable - including Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Amy Ryan who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress as the drug addled mom. But Ben deserves the credit for creating a gritty, ugly world chock full of unsavory characters (where do they find people who look so... ick?) and making it searingly real. Casey fills Patrick with conscience and noble intention, and aches with the consequences. I was expecting the hero to make some Hollywood style compromise, but... the ending left me speechless. Check out the website here.