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. I lived on this block my whole life, most of these people have. When your job is to find people who are missing, it helps to know where they started.

I find the people who started in the cracks and then fell through. This city can be hard. When I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world. He told me what God said to His children: "You are sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves." --

Patrick Kenzie, opening narrative.

Background

Gone Baby Gone is the fourth novel by Dennis Lehane that features his chief protagonists, private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro.

I have read each novel at least three times. The novels, all told from Kenzie's perspective, are both incredibly funny, and deadly serious. I love this couple dearly.

When I heard this book was being made into a film, I was a little frightened. Who was going to be in charge of my Patrick, and my Angie? When I read it was Ben Affleck, I was relieved. I trust him. I believe he's a writer of immense integrity, and wouldn't have done the project if he didn't believe in it, and didn't want to do it justice.

Let me just say that Ben Affleck did indeed do justice to my favorite couple, even if you don't get to know the depth of their relationship in this one single film. The fact they're even on film is a start.

The Plot

I'm sure you all know the basics by now, but let's just go over them again in case you don't.

Amanda McReady, a four-year old from Dorchester, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Boston, has gone missing.

Her mother, Helene (Amy Ryan), an alcoholic drug addict, is playing up her loss for the local news crews, and begging for Amanda's return, even though she doesn't seem all that concerned about it in private.

After three days have passed, Helene's sister-in-law, Beatrice (Amy Madigan) and brother Lionel (Titus Welliver), seek out Kenzie and Gennaro because they know the neighborhood isn't the kind that speaks to police easily, and Beatrice doesn't think that the cops are doing enough.

Patrick and Angie take the case, which is being overseen by
Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), who is the head of the Crimes Against Children task force.

Doyle tells them to meet with the two detectives running the case: Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton), who are less than thrilled to meet these baby-faced PIs, but decide to play nice nevertheless.

And the search for Amanda McReady kicks into high gear.

A Warning

This film will kick you in the gut and stay in your mind for a very long time.

It will likely cause outrage, possibly disgust, but it will surely make you feel.

This is not an easy film. There is a genuine moral complexity to it, aside from the thriller elements.

It is profane. The people they encounter aren't nice. The subject matter, at times, may make you sick to your stomach.

But it is a film worth watching -- make that a film that demands watching, because somehow, somewhere, in each of our lives their will be a Helene McReady. She may look different, and talk different, but trust me, you will know her. I know her. And little Amanda McReadys walk my neighborhood every day.

I'm just telling you to prepare yourself for the aftermath of what you think is just another movie you can watch on Friday night and take back Saturday.

What Makes This Film Work

*Ben Affleck. As a director, and native Bostonian, Affleck captures the feel of the neighborhood -- its suffocating desperation, the tough core of its people, the way they walk, the way they speak, the way they eye everything warily.

He has a visual eye as well, casting images into your cortex that will stay there for eons.

He doesn't disrespect his audience by spelling everything out for them. You will need to pay attention.

He wisely made Patrick Kenzie younger than in the book so you see him lose his innocence, and his belief in black and white.

He makes you feel like you're there. Both emotionally and physically.

*The script, written by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard. The script is written to be spoken by real people.

It's smart, tight, and Patrick has a few great lines that reveal his humor. One occurs when he's watching the TV coverage of the abduction for the first time. The television shows all of the cops standing around the McReady residence.

"F*cking cops. This is just unbelievable. The whole force standing outside the house, guarding the sidewalk with their arms crossed. I mean, are the kidnappers coming back?"

Upon seeing Amanda McReady's room for the first time: "What, did they kidnap the furniture, too?"

Great script.

And of course we have

The Cast

Casey Affleck shocked me. My expectations were huge because he's playing my Patrick. I was thrilled by the job he did. His Patrick looks young, but he walks a tough walk, and his mind is a wonderful thing to watch. I loved him.

Michelle Monaghan doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she makes me believe she is my Angie. I wish there had been more time for them to show more of their banter, but the book is too long for a two-hour film to allow that.

Ed Harris is fierce. His anger, passion, and energy literally fly off the screen. When he says, blood vessels bursting, "If you see me comin', you better run, 'cause I'm gonna lay you the f*ck down!" you pray you never see him coming.

Amy Ryan was rightfully nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She is vile, hateful, disgusting, damaged, and a poor excuse for a human being, much less a mother.

But in one scene, when it hits her that she might have been the reason that Amanda was taken, she tells Patrick, crying hysterically, "I know I f*cked up. I just want my daughter back! I swear to God I won't use drugs no more. I won't even go out. I'll be f*cking straight. Cross my heart!" And then she makes him promise her he'll find her. And he does promise. And in that one moment, I saw the broken mother underneath all of the drama, and I believed she loved Amanda.

Amy Ryan nails this character, and should have won every award there was for this role. (She did win thirteen, but not the big ones, does that count?)

Things I Didn't Love

Angie and Patrick didn't get enough screen time together.

There's a scene at a bar late in the film with Lionel. It was done better in the book and they should have stuck to it.

There's a scene with a pedophile they've been after. (I'm being careful here.) They should have stuck to the book, as it was only a minor change, and Patrick's reaction would still have resonated.

Overall

The film's synopsis sounds pretty standard, but the film is anything but. That all starts with Dennis LeHane, and all ends with Ben Affleck.

The film is a character study wrapped inside of a very smart crime film with twists and turns that I don't think you'll see coming.

And the ending? Let it all out.

But above all, see this movie.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age