Gone Baby Gone

Director: Ben Affleck
Country: USA

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name, Gone Baby Gone is about the search for a 4-year-old Amanda McCready (Madeline O'Brien) who has been kidnapped. Missing persons private detectives Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his partner (Michelle Monaghan) are hired to investigate the kidnapping alongside police Detectives Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton) despite the objections of police Chief Doyle (Morgan Freeman).

This is a very strong directorial debut by Ben Affleck, who also co-wrote the screen adaptation. The story was quite good, which I presume was because of the book, but it would not have made a good movie were it not for Ben's skills with the pen and behind the camera. Younger brother Casey Affleck pulls out yet another great performance for the year (the other being in The Assassination of Jesse James), which has been getting a lot of Oscar buzz, and deservingly so. I also think that Ed Harris's performance, the best I've seen him in years, demands at least a nomination if not a win.

I just loved this movie. I only heard about it a couple of months ago, and wasn't really sure what to expect, but the Afflecks really did a good job here. Highly recommended.