Gone Baby Gone (2007)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Ben Affleck

Writers (WGA):

Ben Affleck (screenplay) &
Aaron Stockard (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

Everyone Wants The Truth... Until They Find It.

Plot:

Two Boston area detectives investigate a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally. Based on the Dennis Lehane novel.

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Investigation | Drug Dealer | Little Girl | Kidnapping

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 19 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Casey Affleck	...	Patrick Kenzie
Michelle Monaghan	...	Angie Gennaro
Morgan Freeman	...	Jack Doyle
Ed Harris	...	Remy Bressant
John Ashton	...	Nick Poole
Amy Ryan	...	Helene McCready
Amy Madigan	...	Bea McCready
Titus Welliver	...	Lionel McCready
Michael K. Williams	...	Devin (as Michael Kenneth Williams)
Edi Gathegi	...	Cheese
Mark Margolis	...	Leon Trett
Madeline O'Brien	...	Amanda McCready
Slaine	...	Bubba
Trudi Goodman	...	Roberta Trett
Matthew Maher	...	Corwin Earle

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | South Africa:16LV | USA:R (certificate #43431) | Taiwan:R-18 | Germany:16 | Argentina:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:R21 | France:-12 | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Italy:VM14 | Brazil:16 | Netherlands:16 | Israel:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Ireland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:18 | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Ireland:15 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

LivePlanet

Trivia:

Jill Quigg was discovered when the production's barricades in the streets of Boston prevented her from picking up her son from school. Ben Affleck was so impressed by her loud rants against the film crew that he asked her to read for the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Remy and Patrick are drinking rum out of a bottle, Remy screws the lid back on the bottle multiple times, but we never see or hear him remove the lid.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Patrick Kenzie: I always believed it was the things you don't choose that makes you who you are. Your city, your neighborhood, your family. People here take pride in these things, like it was something they'd accomplished. The bodies around their souls, the cities wrapped around those...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Gone Maggie Gone (#20.13)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Through the Dark

See it before it's gone, baby, gone!

Ben Affleck's impressive directorial debut features some remarkably naturalistic performances, a genuine sense of locale, and an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness that becomes a major antagonist. An honestly downbeat film, it portrays a mode of existence where nothing is black or white, and it is that gray area that the film explores so effectively even if I find the story from Dennis Leheane's novel to be a bit far-fetched and convoluted. More than The Departed, Mystic River, and Peter Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Gone, Baby, Gone understands the inter-relationship among cops, criminals, and a neighborhood as they search for a missing child. Though the boyish Casey Affleck is arguably miscast as Patrick, a character who was more mature in the novel, his performance cannot be faulted and by the end he has won us over. The last scene is particularly resonant. Though well-known actors such as Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman are expectedly good, it is the performances of an unknown supporting cast that gives the film a disturbing authenticity. And Amy Ryan as the child's mother gives a trenchant performance. Director Affleck maintains an admirable tone of objectivity and compassion throughout, and he has made a film that is worthy of your time. Go!Baby!Go!