Set in the hardscrabble melting pot of crime and corruption that is South Boston, Gone Baby Gone is a police procedural on the surface. But underneath, it’s an intricate human drama with grave moral quandaries.
It’s odd that Ben Affleck doesn’t get the same respect as others in the business who, frankly, have much less talent. Perhaps it was hard to sustain his reputation after he donned a skin-tight suit in the dreadful Daredevil and then became Bennifer for a time, but if you take his whole career into perspective, he makes his case with ease.
Along with his confident acting in films like Gone Girl and Hollywoodland, Affleck is quite the director. He’s at least three for four in directorial outings; he won an Oscar for Argo, and his heist movie The Town was a success. But we’re here to recommend his first directorial credit, Gone Baby Gone.
Set in the hardscrabble melting pot of crime and corruption that is South Boston, Gone Baby Gone is a police procedural on the surface. But underneath, it is an intricate human drama with grave moral quandaries. The film dives right into the investigation of a kidnapped three-year-old, and Affleck’s brother Casey plays Patrick Kenzie, a neophyte private detective hired to augment the police investigation. Kenzie grew up in the shadow of the crime world, and he uses his shady connections to find the missing people that “started in the cracks, and then fell through.”
The story is rife with intricate twists and turns. The horrifying realities the characters face leave nobody guiltless, and the choices they must make are often heartbreaking down both paths. Affleck doesn’t spoon-feed the audience; narrative and characters alike are nuanced and subject to change. Gone Baby Gone isn’t your average, predictable crime tale, and that feels good.