i recently watched the movie " Gone Baby Gone " ... it was really amazing !
i really enjoyed the movie , cuz you don't know the truth till the last moments of movie and it makes you surprise in all minutes . it also make your mind busy thinking about the dos and don'ts and you really can't handle it to choose the best ...
i really didn't think Afflecks could handle such a good movie , Ben directed it pretty good and Casey played it very nice ...
there will be more about the movie :
Gone Baby Gone
U.S. Box Office:
$20,300,218
Cast and Credits:
starring :
Helene McCready: Amy Ryan
Miramax Films presents a movie directed by Ben Affleck. Written by Affleck and Aaron Stockard. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Running time: 115 minutes. Rated R (for violence, drug content and pervasive language). Opening today at local theaters.
Two young private detectives are hired to take a closer look at the mysterious disappearance of a little girl and soon discover that nothing is what it seems. Ultimately, they will have to risk everything -- their relationship, their sanity, and even their lives -- to find a little girl-lost.
By Roger Ebert :
Boston seems like the most forbidding city in crime movies. There are lots of movies about criminals in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and points between, but somehow in Boston the wounds cut deeper, the characters are angrier, their resentments bleed, their grudges never die, and they all know everybody else's business. The novelist Dennis Lehane captured that dour gloom in his books inspiring "Mystic River" and now "Gone Baby Gone." What would it take to make his characters happy?
This is his fourth story involving Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), lovers and business partners, who are private investigators specializing in tracking down deadbeats. Approached by clients who have deadly matters on their mind, Patrick and Angie protest that they're just garden-variety PIs, don't carry guns, aren't looking for heavy lifting. Then somehow they end up with crucifixion murders, kidnapped babies and, as always, people who are not who, or what, they seem.
This could become a franchise, if we didn't start grinning at their claims to be basically amateurs. In "Gone Baby Gone," Ben Affleck, making his debut as a director, assumes we haven't read the four novels, approaches Patrick and Angie head on and surrounds them with a gallery of very, very intriguing characters. He has his brother Casey and Monaghan play babes in the deep, dark woods, their youth and inexperience working for them as they wonder about what veteran cops don't question. The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature.
I know, the title sounds like the movie should star Bill Haley and the Comets. But there is a rough authenticity from the first shots, especially when we meet a woman named Bea McCready (Amy Madigan) and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver), who don't think the cops are doing enough to track down her 4-year-old niece. They think people who know the neighborhood and don't wear badges might find out more. They're right.
The police investigation is being led by Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) of the Crimes Against Children police task force, who unlike a standard movie cop, doesn't resent these outsiders but suggests they work with his men Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton). Not likely, but good for the story, as the trail begins in the wreckage of a life being lived by the little girl's single mother, Helene (Amy Ryan). She is deep into drugs, which she takes whenever she can sober up enough, and there seems to be a connection between her supplier and a recent heist of a pile of drug money.
Enough about the plot. What I like about the movie is the way Ben Affleck and his brother, both lifelong Bostonians, understand the rhythm of a society in which people not only live in one another's pockets but are trying to slash their way out. This movie and the recent "Assassination of Jesse James ..." announce Casey's maturation as an actor, and it also proves, after her film "The Heartbreak Kid," that Michelle Monaghan should not be blamed for the sins of others. And when you assemble Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and Amy Ryan as sidemen, the star soloists can go out for a cigarette, and the show goes right on. One reason crime movies tend to be intrinsically interesting is that the supporting characters have to be riveting. How far would Jason Bourne get in a one-man show?
There are some secrets and concealed motives in "Gone Baby Gone," but there always are, in any crime movie without nametags saying Good Guy and Bad Guy. What distinguishes the screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, which departs from the novel in several ways, is (a) how well-concealed the secrets are, and (b) how much perfect sense they make when they're revealed. I am grateful when a movie springs something on me, and I feel rewarded, not tricked.
I also like the way that certain clues are planted in plain view. We can see or hear them just fine. It's that we don't know they're clues. No glowering closeups or characters skulking in a corner to give the game away. That's a tribute to the writing -- and the acting, which doesn't telegraph anything. Actors talk about how well they like to get to know their characters. Sometimes it's better if they take them at face value and find out more about them along with the rest of us.
There are dark regions below the surface of the story. Was the child taken by a pedophile? There's a suspect, all right, but maybe he's too obvious. Certainly Helene, the mother, is no help. She's so battered by drugs and drink that she's hardly quite sure if a conversation is taking place. It's amazing the little girl made it to 4; her aunt and uncle must have had a lot to do with that. The unspoken assumption is that somewhere a clock is ticking, and the longer the child remains missing, the more likely she will never be found or be found dead. And here are these two kids, skip tracers who have lives and destinies depending on them.
This is his fourth story involving Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), lovers and business partners, who are private investigators specializing in tracking down deadbeats. Approached by clients who have deadly matters on their mind, Patrick and Angie protest that they're just garden-variety PIs, don't carry guns, aren't looking for heavy lifting. Then somehow they end up with crucifixion murders, kidnapped babies and, as always, people who are not who, or what, they seem.
This could become a franchise, if we didn't start grinning at their claims to be basically amateurs. In "Gone Baby Gone," Ben Affleck, making his debut as a director, assumes we haven't read the four novels, approaches Patrick and Angie head on and surrounds them with a gallery of very, very intriguing characters. He has his brother Casey and Monaghan play babes in the deep, dark woods, their youth and inexperience working for them as they wonder about what veteran cops don't question. The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature.
I know, the title sounds like the movie should star Bill Haley and the Comets. But there is a rough authenticity from the first shots, especially when we meet a woman named Bea McCready (Amy Madigan) and her husband Lionel (Titus Welliver), who don't think the cops are doing enough to track down her 4-year-old niece. They think people who know the neighborhood and don't wear badges might find out more. They're right.
The police investigation is being led by Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) of the Crimes Against Children police task force, who unlike a standard movie cop, doesn't resent these outsiders but suggests they work with his men Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton). Not likely, but good for the story, as the trail begins in the wreckage of a life being lived by the little girl's single mother, Helene (Amy Ryan). She is deep into drugs, which she takes whenever she can sober up enough, and there seems to be a connection between her supplier and a recent heist of a pile of drug money.
Enough about the plot. What I like about the movie is the way Ben Affleck and his brother, both lifelong Bostonians, understand the rhythm of a society in which people not only live in one another's pockets but are trying to slash their way out. This movie and the recent "Assassination of Jesse James ..." announce Casey's maturation as an actor, and it also proves, after her film "The Heartbreak Kid," that Michelle Monaghan should not be blamed for the sins of others. And when you assemble Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and Amy Ryan as sidemen, the star soloists can go out for a cigarette, and the show goes right on. One reason crime movies tend to be intrinsically interesting is that the supporting characters have to be riveting. How far would Jason Bourne get in a one-man show?
There are some secrets and concealed motives in "Gone Baby Gone," but there always are, in any crime movie without nametags saying Good Guy and Bad Guy. What distinguishes the screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, which departs from the novel in several ways, is (a) how well-concealed the secrets are, and (b) how much perfect sense they make when they're revealed. I am grateful when a movie springs something on me, and I feel rewarded, not tricked.
I also like the way that certain clues are planted in plain view. We can see or hear them just fine. It's that we don't know they're clues. No glowering closeups or characters skulking in a corner to give the game away. That's a tribute to the writing -- and the acting, which doesn't telegraph anything. Actors talk about how well they like to get to know their characters. Sometimes it's better if they take them at face value and find out more about them along with the rest of us.
There are dark regions below the surface of the story. Was the child taken by a pedophile? There's a suspect, all right, but maybe he's too obvious. Certainly Helene, the mother, is no help. She's so battered by drugs and drink that she's hardly quite sure if a conversation is taking place. It's amazing the little girl made it to 4; her aunt and uncle must have had a lot to do with that. The unspoken assumption is that somewhere a clock is ticking, and the longer the child remains missing, the more likely she will never be found or be found dead. And here are these two kids, skip tracers who have lives and destinies depending on them.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID :
91
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Though its procedural goes a little soft in the middle, Gone Baby Gone quietly accumulates in power, leading to one of the more subtly devastating final shots in recent memory.
88
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Gone Baby Gone is powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand.
88
USA Today Claudia Puig
There is a compelling ethical question raised skillfully that will haunt viewers. The poignant conclusion probably will incite debate.
88
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Gone Baby Gone is full of dark secrets, and how they unravel will keep you glued.
88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature.
88
Boston Globe Ty Burr
The joke's on us, it turns out; as a director, Affleck has come through with a sharp, morally ambiguous piece of pulp crackerjack.
88
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Gone Baby Gone would be an accomplishment with anyone at the helm; from a first-timer, it's a revelation.
83
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's a fine debut, far more grounded, plausible and engrossing than most Hollywood thrillers.
83
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
In the strongest scenes, Ben Affleck gets his lead actors to extract the bitter juice from Lehane's wood-alcohol prose. The movie has its horrifying Gothic twists and turns, but it's never better than when it takes these two into places where the underclass goes to forget or be forgotten or get lost.
80
Empire Angie Errigo
A superior, haunting thriller of abduction, deception and ethical dilemma with a sobering ending - a moral quandary that demands strong debate outside the cinema.
80
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Ben Affleck directed and cowrote the script; his biggest gamble was casting his irksome little brother as a pistol-whipping tough guy, but the picture is so superbly executed in every other respect that Casey seems more quirky than miscast.
80
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
One of the graces of Gone Baby Gone is its sensitivity to real struggle, to the lived-in spaces and worn-out consciences that can come when despair turns into nihilism.
80
The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
It's a tribute to this thoughtful, deeply poignant, splendidly executed film that we replay the conclusion in our minds long after the lights come on.
80
Village Voice Jim Ridley
In his strikingly downbeat directorial debut, Affleck has created something of a blue-moon rarity: an American movie of genuine moral complexity.
75
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Fans of Lehane's Kenzie-Gennaro books will lament the fact that starting with the fourth book means losing the couple's extensive backstory, but the essence of their fragile, damaged bond comes through even if you don't know what shaped it.
75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
For all of Affleck's skill, he can't entirely put over a credulity-straining ending that probably worked better on the printed page. At the same time, the deeply disturbing windup of "Gone Baby Gone" is a real talker. And that's not something you can say about many movies these days.
75
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A story so good that maybe anybody could have turned out something decent.
75
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The only real casualty of Lehane's novel is Angie, here reduced to a supporting player who bears no resemblance to the original character, who is every bit as smart and tough and interesting as her boyfriend. It's a regrettable loss in a film that otherwise indicates its first-time director knows what he's doing.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Casey's big brother has made a tough, taut mystery.
75
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The film's standout performance belongs to Ed Harris, who plays a Boston detective with decades of experience and an equal amount of built-up resentment toward people who would harm children.
70
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Doesn’t always hit all the right notes...But in the end, Affleck displays a surprisingly sure hand, and Gone Baby Gone largely delivers.
70
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
By and large a notable piece of work, a strong directing debut by actor Ben Affleck that highlights attention-getting performances...But, as adapted from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this brooding, somber film is also ragged around the edges and not without problematic aspects.
70
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The movie is taut, fast, achingly authentic and terribly melancholy.
70
Variety Lisa Nesselson
Moral ambiguity is the real star of Ben Affleck's helming debut, Gone Baby Gone, an involving Boston-set tale of mixed motives, selflessness and perfidy in the wake of a 4-year-old girl's disappearance.
70
New York Magazine David Edelstein
Casey Affleck has never had a pedestal like the one his brother provides him, and he earns it. His Patrick is pale and raspy, with a slight grogginess that gives him an astounding vulnerability--and makes his bursts of temper shocking.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Though its procedural goes a little soft in the middle, Gone Baby Gone quietly accumulates in power, leading to one of the more subtly devastating final shots in recent memory.
88
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Gone Baby Gone is powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand.
88
USA Today Claudia Puig
There is a compelling ethical question raised skillfully that will haunt viewers. The poignant conclusion probably will incite debate.
88
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Gone Baby Gone is full of dark secrets, and how they unravel will keep you glued.
88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature.
88
Boston Globe Ty Burr
The joke's on us, it turns out; as a director, Affleck has come through with a sharp, morally ambiguous piece of pulp crackerjack.
88
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Gone Baby Gone would be an accomplishment with anyone at the helm; from a first-timer, it's a revelation.
83
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's a fine debut, far more grounded, plausible and engrossing than most Hollywood thrillers.
83
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
In the strongest scenes, Ben Affleck gets his lead actors to extract the bitter juice from Lehane's wood-alcohol prose. The movie has its horrifying Gothic twists and turns, but it's never better than when it takes these two into places where the underclass goes to forget or be forgotten or get lost.
80
Empire Angie Errigo
A superior, haunting thriller of abduction, deception and ethical dilemma with a sobering ending - a moral quandary that demands strong debate outside the cinema.
80
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Ben Affleck directed and cowrote the script; his biggest gamble was casting his irksome little brother as a pistol-whipping tough guy, but the picture is so superbly executed in every other respect that Casey seems more quirky than miscast.
80
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
One of the graces of Gone Baby Gone is its sensitivity to real struggle, to the lived-in spaces and worn-out consciences that can come when despair turns into nihilism.
80
The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
It's a tribute to this thoughtful, deeply poignant, splendidly executed film that we replay the conclusion in our minds long after the lights come on.
80
Village Voice Jim Ridley
In his strikingly downbeat directorial debut, Affleck has created something of a blue-moon rarity: an American movie of genuine moral complexity.
75
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Fans of Lehane's Kenzie-Gennaro books will lament the fact that starting with the fourth book means losing the couple's extensive backstory, but the essence of their fragile, damaged bond comes through even if you don't know what shaped it.
75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
For all of Affleck's skill, he can't entirely put over a credulity-straining ending that probably worked better on the printed page. At the same time, the deeply disturbing windup of "Gone Baby Gone" is a real talker. And that's not something you can say about many movies these days.
75
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A story so good that maybe anybody could have turned out something decent.
75
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The only real casualty of Lehane's novel is Angie, here reduced to a supporting player who bears no resemblance to the original character, who is every bit as smart and tough and interesting as her boyfriend. It's a regrettable loss in a film that otherwise indicates its first-time director knows what he's doing.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Casey's big brother has made a tough, taut mystery.
75
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The film's standout performance belongs to Ed Harris, who plays a Boston detective with decades of experience and an equal amount of built-up resentment toward people who would harm children.
70
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Doesn’t always hit all the right notes...But in the end, Affleck displays a surprisingly sure hand, and Gone Baby Gone largely delivers.
70
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
By and large a notable piece of work, a strong directing debut by actor Ben Affleck that highlights attention-getting performances...But, as adapted from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this brooding, somber film is also ragged around the edges and not without problematic aspects.
70
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The movie is taut, fast, achingly authentic and terribly melancholy.
70
Variety Lisa Nesselson
Moral ambiguity is the real star of Ben Affleck's helming debut, Gone Baby Gone, an involving Boston-set tale of mixed motives, selflessness and perfidy in the wake of a 4-year-old girl's disappearance.
70
New York Magazine David Edelstein
Casey Affleck has never had a pedestal like the one his brother provides him, and he earns it. His Patrick is pale and raspy, with a slight grogginess that gives him an astounding vulnerability--and makes his bursts of temper shocking.
*from the movie dialogues
