Review of Gone Baby Gone (2007) by Noah C — 24 Nov 2013

Gone Baby Gone, serving as Ben Affleck's debut as a director, proves that he has a much stronger talent in directing films than he is at starring in them.

Gone Baby Gone is a suburban thriller directed right. It doesn't succumb to melodrama or a lack of originality, but instead actually harnesses the strong elements of these themes and turns Gone Baby Gone into a surprising and strongly dramatic thriller which has a rich direction, sufficient script and powerful cast which is enough to deal justice to Dennis LeHane's novel.

The talent of the Affleck brothers is on full display in Gone Baby Gone, because Ben Affleck's dedication to directing Gone Baby Gone and ensuring it has a sufficiently strong screenplay for its actors to work with, and it includes the strong technical of powerhouse editing, strong cinematography and a strong atmosphere helped by a great musical score. Ben Affleck shows much promise as a filmmaker in Gone Baby Gone and puts all his experience on display. He leads narrative very strongly.

And his brother, Casey Affleck provides a strongly charismatic lead which is so powerful that it defies anyone's theory that nepotism could be the case for his casting. His emotional articulation and dramatic line delivery construes a strong lead for Gone Baby Gone and ensures that the emotional intensity of the story is consistently held aloft by his strong and natural talent as an actor.

But Amy Ryan is the standout. Even though I will always remember her more for portraying Holly Flax in The Office, she supplies excellent dramatic heft to her part in Gone Baby Gone through her intense facial gestures and effortful lining delivery, mixed with her ability to articulate befitting emotions to the scene so that it may fit the context greatly.

Michelle Monaghan supplied some some powerful work too, as did Ed Harris. But really Morgan Freeman overshadowed them both with his small role that benefited from his powerfully meaningful line delivery and emotional efforts usually reserved for a monologue, yet put on show for a brief time so audiences may examine the kind of powerful acting he can achieve within a very short timespan and remember how he is such an acclaimed actor who recently earned an Academy Award for his role in Million Dollar Baby.

So Gone Baby Gone is a powerfully acted and meaningful thriller which overshadows its simplicities.