Gone Baby Gone

[Benny Profane]

I figure since it just came out on DVD it warrants its own thread. To me, it was a huge disappointment redeemed by a pretty good ending. I didn't guess the twists, but I knew a few were coming, as it was just a standard police procedural film until the in-your-face morally ambiguous decision at the conclusion. I thought some of Affleck's directorial touches took away from rather than enhanced the film, most notably the fade-to-blacks after the bathtub scene.

Perhaps it would be better after a rewatch because I won't have to wade through the boring plot twists and can focus my concentration on more important themes. But as of now, it was pretty weak considering I had high expecations.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'll hopefully be seeing this tonight. My expectations are in check.

[DSNT]

I'll hopefully be seeing this tonight. My expectations are in check.
Mine weren't. I also was disappointed. The first half was decent, the 2nd excruciating, and I preferred Amy Ryan as Beadie.

[monolith94]

I thought Ed Harris was terrific in this.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Yep, this gets a "meh" from me too. It had a promising start, but seemed to just kind of sit in limbo, never developing the drama to level it should. Then that second act. Yikes. Whatever drama the film had built to that point was completely lost. Speaking of "lost", the film seemed to lose all sense of direction for about 30 minutes. It just rambled. They tried to string the missing pieces together with narration, but that wasn't an improvement. I'll give it credit for the emotional sucker-punch at the end. I'd read about it, but it still hit me pretty hard. That just wasn't enough to redeem the film though. I thought Amy Ryan was fantastic though, definitely worthy of the nomination. I'm actually pulling for her.

[Mysterious Dude]

The second kidnapping was a total cul-de-sac, and really stupid.

[MacGuffin]

The more I think about it, the more mediocre I find it. Especially watching Zodiac a second time last night, and finding myself wanting to watch it a third time.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The second kidnapping was a total cul-de-sac, and really stupid.

Almost as stupid as killing an unarmed suspect in cold blood and not being investigated or brought up on charges, but rather congratulated.

[Bosco B Thug]

I wish I knew how to defend this one. Hmm. I remember while watching it I told myself there was something "carelessly enthralling" about it... maybe its lack of presumption, its never feeling the need for empty poise or false authorial equanimity - a distinction that nicely inhabits the subject matter.

[Benny Profane]

Yep, this gets a "meh" from me too. It had a promising start, but seemed to just kind of sit in limbo, never developing the drama to level it should.

Yes, that macho scene in the Fillmore (where Helene was a regular) gave me hope but then it just kinda stagnated until the very end.

[DavidSeven]

I really wish this film hadn't been so obsessed with its plot. I really liked how Affleck presented Boston here, and what he did with his characters. He had something really compelling through the resolution of the second kidnapping. From there, the film just loses its sanity. Plot developments are no longer reasonable, and character motivations are no longer understandable. The film's ending is somewhat salvaged with a well-handled epilogue, but it just shows how much better this film is when it's not dealing with police procedural nonsense.

[Robby P]

I must have a watched a different movie from the rest of you. I was thoroughly impressed.

[Rowland]

I dropped my score by half a star after my repeat viewing this weekend, primarily because of a slight overemphasis on Lehane's labyrinth plot machinations, which is made up for to a large extent because they always remain thematically relevant, and Affleck's direction being just a bit too functional, but still admirably restrained and unpretentious.

[origami_mustache]

http://www.steward.ca/wordpress/wp-content/JaySherman.jpg

[megladon8]

A second viewing was even better.

I think this movie is nearly perfect. The entire cast shines, the script is wonderful and made me wish I could write like that.

[Teecee]

I like how it's written and made. Strong plot, good character development and a moral grey zone in the end, and a terrific cadre of actors (I was most impressed by C. Affleck). But I just found the whole thing to be so bleak that it somehow detracts from the experience. It's not really fair to the film, but...

[number8]

I really wish this film hadn't been so obsessed with its plot.

I don't think it is.

Rowls is right that Lehane's plots are purposely labyrinthian just to serve the thematic points and the characters, which is why the second kidnapping didn't feel out of place me in the slightest. I'm not sure what about the character motivations are not in line with what's going on.

Although I'll agree that Affleck's direction is much stronger than the script.

[Morris Schæffer]

I don't think it is.

Rowls is right that Lehane's plots are purposely labyrinthian just to serve the thematic points and the characters,

I think he's saying that despite overtly labyrinthine plot machinations, the thematic relevance isn't sacrificed. I guess I don't agree that Gone Baby Gone needs to be deliberately labyrinthine to get its points across which is what you seem to be suggesting.

[Benny Profane]

I think one of my biggest problems with the film is the level of risk assumed by certain characters for little or no gain. Overall I thought the whole scenario was so outlandish that it torpedoed the entire movie.

[megladon8]

Almost as stupid as killing an unarmed suspect in cold blood and not being investigated or brought up on charges, but rather congratulated.


I didn't see this post 'til now, so sorry my reply is so delayed.


*SPOILERS AHEAD*

This stuff happens in the real world - especially when one of the cops was shot in the throat by the people inside the house. That pretty much makes it fair game for the cops to clean the place up. They don't take the shooting and/or killing of other cops lightly at all.

I know that the shot was in the back of the head (execution style), but I still think that a man like that - a known child molestor, rapist, and now murderer - being involved with the shooting death of a cop...if he gets shot at the scene, regardless of the circumstances of the shooting, I don't think it's too far fetched to think the police would turn a blind eye to that.

Plus, it's not like the police force portrayed in the film is particularly honorable - Ed Harris spends a whole scene revealing that he planted evidence on a guy. And later in the film when we find out the big secret, it's not surprising that the guys higher up in the ranks who were involved in this wouldn't want to have that clusterfuck at the house investigated further.

[Milky Joe]

I really liked the last shot.

[megladon8]

I really liked the last shot.


Me too. I thought that when I watched it last week.

It actually has some really great cinematography - stuff that tells the story well, and creates interesting compositions, without resorting to "oohh...that's pretty scenery".

[megladon8]

Oh, and I love the opening voice over by Affleck...

"I always believed it was the things you don't choose that makes you who you are. Your city, your neighborhood, your family. People here take pride in these things, like it was something they'd accomplished. The bodies around their souls, the cities wrapped around those. I lived on this block my whole life; most of these people have. When your job is to find people who are missing, it helps to know where they started. I find the people who started in the cracks and then fell through. This city can be hard. When I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world. He told me what God said to His children. 'You are sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves.'"

[Dukefrukem]

This was an okay movie. I liked the idea of the synopsis, but I have a hard time believing the ending. There were some scenes I really enjoyed, like the questioning/altercation in the Murphy's Law bar scene (I've been to that bar in Southie).. and the storming of the house. Great stuff. I just can't get over the ending result.


Like no one was going to find out? Was he going to live in the woods forever? What would happen when the little girl grew up?