365+ movies in 365 Days: Day 130 - Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 neo-noir thriller set in Boston, directed by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut and starring his brother, Casey Affleck. Casey is Patrick Kenzie, a neighborhood private investigator, who along with his girlfriend/assistant (Michelle Monoghan)  gets involved in a missing child case when he is hired by the girl's aunt (Amy Madigan), who feels the police are not doing enough. She feels Patrick is part of the fabric of the neighborhood and will be able to learn things the police cannot.

Kenzie learns the girls mother (Amy Ryan) who is is an alcoholic and a drug user, has lied to the police about the circumstances of the girl's disappearance.  In sharing this information with the police he becomes part of the official investigation and leads the police to the mom's boyfriend, who has been murdered.

There is a connection between the kidnapping of 4 year old Amanda, her mother, a drug dealer, the murdered boyfriend and some missing money. There are also deeper connections that are revealed as the story unfolds. There is another missing child, that may or may not be connected to the first. And there are unexplained questions in the investigation into Amanda's abduction.

The movie also stars Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and John Ashton as the detectives investigating the case. All three are riveting to watch, but Amy Ryan as the coke addled mom steals every scene she is in. But the real star of the movie is the city of Boston, particularly the Dorchester neighborhood. Director Affleck goes out of his way to populate the film with authentic looking actors who look and feel like part of a close knit community. 

The film is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River, another Boston based thriller about the nature of neighborhoods and friends.

I really enjoyed this film, I was pleased by the turn of events the story took, rather than thinking it was cop out. Casey Affleck has become an interesting actor to watch. If Ben Affleck's next film, The Town, opening in two weeks, is as good as this, he should give up acting and become a full time director.

At The Movie House rating ***1/2