Gone Baby Gone (Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Ed Harris)

“Gone Baby Gone” triggered a two-hour conversation between my brother and I about morality, integrity, honour and living with the consequences of doing the right thing.

Directed by Ben Affleck and starring his younger, until now overshadowed brother Casey Affleck, it’s a gripping thriller about two men investigating a grim missing-child case in a rough, poor area of Boston.

Right from the beginning, the film provides a believable, seemingly accurate illustration of Dorchester, one of Boston’s grittiest neighbourhoods and an area where Affleck’s character Patrick Kenzie grew up and still remains connected.

The film opens with footage of the area where the crime has taken place, accompanied by narration as Patrick describes his life – the images of shabby homes, children, young mothers, and people barbecuing on their front stoops, reminded me of Toronto’s Regent Park and the families I volunteer with there.

Patrick and his girlfriend Angie (Michelle Monaghan) are low-level private investigators who make their living tracking down people who are dodging debts. When Amanda McReady, a four-year-old girl goes missing, her aunt and uncle come to Patrick for help, believing he may have local connections that the detectives, led by Ed Harris as Det. Remy Bressant, don’t.

Though the case is bigger than anything they’ve ever tackled, they grudgingly accept the job and begin talking to Patrick’s old friends, and soon find his ‘from there’ status opens doors, though it also gets them into some tight spots.

Asking too many questions in a shabby bar where the missing girl’s mother spent most of her nights, Patrick and Angie soon find the door locked and a tough, imposing crowd confronting them.

Patrick, a slight, not-so-intimidating guy, quickly rises to the challenge with a determined, unflinching gaze that suggests he’s ready for anything.

This willingness to face any challenge head on, despite the impossible odds against him, quickly comes to characterize Patrick, whether he’s threatening a Haitian gangster, challenging the integrity of the detectives working the case, or repeatedly defending his girlfriend’s honour. And it’s believable. You quickly understand that Patrick’s heart is much larger than his shoe size and his stubborn nature will accomplish great things.

That determination quickly becomes the driving force of this film. Big obstacles arise and we soon learn there’s much more to this story than what is seen on the surface. And ultimately it becomes a story about two men and their very different moral compasses and how that affects their handling of the investigation.

While Patrick almost always tries to do the right thing no matter what the consequences, he has his weaknesses, as demonstrated when he executes a child-molester and murderer, in cold blood.

Bressant, on the other hand, is a corrupt cop who admits to his willingness to bend the rules to accomplish his own ends – though his motivation is often rooted in a twisted sense of moral justice and an attempt to do the right thing.

This film is full of unexpected surprises and twists and turns, and in addition to raising deep moral questions, it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and guessing, right up until the stunning finish with Morgan Freeman that leaves a moral question mark that hangs over the credits and will haunt you for days afterwards.


Both Casey and Ben Affleck are receiving Oscar buzz for their respectable efforts on this project.