Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Gone Baby Gone / USA / 2007

2007 was something of a banner year in the Affleck household. Casey finally got the chance to display his (surprisingly considerable) acting chops in Jesse James, and brother Ben bounced back after years in the tabloid wilderness with this, his outstanding directorial debut. Who woulda thought they had it in ‘em?

Between them, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Dennis Lehane seem to be intent on creating a cinematic identity for Boston, in much the same way Woody Allen and Spike Lee have done for New York. In films as diverse as Good Will Hunting, Mystic River and The Departed they have managed to depict the city in loving but honest detail, as staunchly working class but doggedly aspirational, tight knit but treacherous, with a hard-grafting criminal underclass working in tandem with a corrupt, devious political system. Gone Baby Gone might just be the best of the bunch, taking a seemingly simple story of child abduction and just piling on the layers and double crosses until no one is innocent. It’s surprisingly hard to depict an authentic, unbiased moral dilemma on film- it’s tricky to show character without creating sympathy, which naturally leads to an audience taking sides. But the dilemma Casey’s character faces at the end of Gone Baby Gone is a genuinely thorny one, his eventual decision debatable up to the final frame. All things considered, this is undoubtedly the best thriller of 2007, and yes, I do mean better than No Country For Old Men, never mind what the awards people say. Gigli is well and truly forgiven.

by Tom Huddleston | Source: 35mm print
17 Jan 2008 11:37 AM | Comments (1)

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1. Chiranjit / 17 January 2008 / 12:30 PM / URL

   I really do think the strongest aspect of Affleck’s direction is the fact that the atmosphere of the film feels so authentic, especially the opening moments. I actually didn’t recognize Amy Ryan from her work on The Wire, so for awhile I actually thought she was just another one of the locals that Affleck decided to cast (I clued in a couple days later).

   That’s why it’s such a shame that the scenes involving Edi Gathegi’s drug-dealer named Cheese feel so awkward and artificial. Though the filmmakers are smart enough to have Cheese’s mannerisms come off as posturing at times, more often they feel like ineffective and overwrought imitation. These scenes really felt like an unfortunate misstep by Affleck (the older one), within a film that was actually quite solid for the most part.