By Curt Schleier

From the very beginning of his career, Ben Affleck appeared destined for Big Things.  He had everything: good looks, ability and smarts.  But Hollywood works its magic in mysterious ways.

After a while, it seemed as though every one of Affleck’s positive accomplishments was accompanied by something that tarnished his reputation.  Consider his very public relationships with Gwyneth Paltrow and of course JLo.  Certainly he can date anyone he wants, but both these associations reeked of Paris Hilton rather than someone serious about his craft. 

While a dirt-hungry media may be blamed for the brouhaha surrounding those affairs, he has no one but himself to blame for GIGLI and JERSEY GIRL.   After watching those two, I don’t think any one can be blamed for wondering if the Academy Award he shared for co-writing the screenplay of GOOD WILL HUNTING was a fluke.

It turns out that the Cassandras were premature.  GONE BABY GONE, Affleck’s debut as a feature film director, shows a remarkable level of sophistication on many levels.  He tackled a difficult and potentially controversial subject, missing children.  He wrote a screenplay based on a Dennis Lehane book and managed to make the transition from printed page to screen while maintaining the book’s nourish qualities.  But most of all he made an engrossing, suspenseful film that grabs you from the first frame. 

When baby Amanda is kidnapped, his desperate aunt, Bea McCready (Amy Madigan), and uncle, Lionel (Titus Welliver) turn to a pair of local private eyes.  Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Genarro (Michelle Monaghan grew up in Dorchester, a tough Boston working class neighborhood, and presumably they know people who won’t talk to the cops.

The cops of course are reluctant to cooperate with the duo.  Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), who lost his own daughter in a similar case, and detectives Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton) offer minimal information, but that changes as Patrick and Angie uncover additional info from their own sources.


Angie’s mother, Helene (Amy Ryan), a known drug addict, lied to the cops about where she was when Amanda was snatched from her crib and how long she was away.  Helene is an unsympathetic figure, someone who never should have had a child, but she at least appears to want the girl back and Patrick promises he will return her.

But something goes awry.  A meeting with an alleged kidnapper in a hilly area ends in shots and a baby dropped to a watery grave.  But something nags at Patrick.

(PARTIAL SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read further if you don’t want to know part of how the film ends.)

It takes a while to figure out.  Without revealing who did what to whom, Amanda is not dead.  In fact, she’s been placed with a kind family.  The quandary facing Patrick is does he return Amanda to the unhealthy environment offered by her mother or leave her with loving parents, but people complicit in her disappearance.  Adding pressure, Angie, who are more than business partners, has very strong views of her own.

I won’t reveal what Patrick decides, but I will guarantee that you will debate his moral quandary long after the theater lights come back up.


Casey Affleck gives the performance of his career, more than making up for THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD.  I’m talking award-level performance. 

And on the subject of Oscars, it’s the time of the year when companies start releasing films they feel will be award contenders.  RENDITION, MICHAEL CLAYTON, WE OWN THE NIGHT, among recent releases, were all good films.  GONE BABY GONE is extremely good.  If there’s a comma out of place, I didn’t see it.