short film reviews, criticism, and occasional musing.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Gone Baby Gone (2007, USA)

Ben Affleck's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, is a wrenching story, but its impact is undercut by its heavy-handedness. Many of the plot twists can be projected well ahead of time (note - don't cast such heavies as Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman if you really want to make your ending a surprise), and the whole thing frequently feels overwrought. Casey Affleck is good as a street-smart Boston private investigator, and Amy Ryan is very good as the woman whose kidnapped daughter he is hired to find. Harris and Freeman are good as well, but then they could play these roles in their sleep.

Unfortunately, it's Affleck's character that never quite rings true. Patrick changes from a man who at the beginning of the film roughs up a tough at a bar for being rude to his girlfriend, but by the end does the objectively right thing even though it might mean losing her. I'm not sure if I buy his character's arc - the whole point is that he's lived in this neighborhood forever, that he's both part of it and somewhat outside of it, but where does the real effect of his environment show in him? Where does it come out in his personality? the longer we see Patrick, the more stoic he becomes, the more attached to ideas than to people.

Another big problem with the film is Michelle Monaghan as Patrick's girlfriend and investigative partner. She's not particularly good at either, and if she were truly an outsider in this insular Boston neighborhood, then perhaps the audience could accept her as a surrogate. But she's not - she's likewise a part of the environment, though she doesn't show it at all. And she's a weirdly mobile moral figure as well - she serves virtually no purpose as a fellow detective, eventually providing a foil for Patrick, but not much more.

There's some interesting stuff here - the sense of place is excellent, particularly in the filming locations and extras casting. The concept of the impact environment has on personality is a good starting point, but gets lost in the guise of a thriller/drama. I think that if Affleck were to simplify, he might be more successful in his next venture.

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