Review of Gone Baby Gone (2007) by Yourstruly — 21 Jul 2013

It wasn't awful. I didn't find this movie to be boring at all. I enjoyed it because it managed to built suspense and raise curiosity about the resolution. But there are so many things holding Gone Baby Gone back.

For one, it was confusing. Simple as that. Two, Casey Affleck. Not only was his character flat and uninteresting, but I also didn't buy a word he said, especially when he tried to be a tough guy with his fighting words and his pistol whipping.

Every time he started intimidating guys in bars or giving some morally self-righteous speech about why other people are wrong I just said "Please." He was very much a typical protagonist in a Hollywood film and not at all a real person.

Three, the scene when Ed Harris is questioning the mother in her house is just awful. It's full of cliches and pointless yelling (ex: Harris sweeping all the bottles off of the kitchen table in a burst of anger and then firmly slamming his palms on the table and demanding answers).

And four, it is really a ridiculous plot when you think about it. Just listen to it (Spoiler Alert): A seventy something year old police chief looses his 12 year old daughter. Then he spends decades surrounded by the impoverished and unfortunate youth of the drug and violence ridden neighborhoods of Boston.

So, for no reason, all of a sudden he decides to kidnap one random white girl and take her home after forty years of never doing anything like that even though he's seen kids lives go down the drain ever day.

Not only that, it wasn't really his idea. It was suggested to him by some other cop (Harris) who also seems to gain this desire to "give a kid a chance" out of nowhere. And the other main cop involved (Affleck) has a seemingly healthy relationship with his girlfriend.

But that relationship ends with no discussion or second thoughts when they have a minor ethical disagreement even though they both meant well. Also, for some reason, this also boring and undeveloped character of a girlfriend cries herself to sleep every night when she thinks the little girl is dead, even though she never met this girl and has only been on the case for a few days.

The same unrealistic emotion seems to exist with the aforementioned police chief and his wife when they kidnap the "lost" girl. After keeping her for a week, they are all of a sudden unable to be separated form her and the cops have to pry the child from the wife's arms while she breaks down in tears.

In the end, it entertained me and made me think...but I didn't buy any of it.