“Gone Baby Gone” 4/5
After first seeing “The Town” and being sufficiently impressed, I decided to watch this to see if Ben Affleck the director is the real deal. This was actually better than “The Town” and quite impressive for a debut. Affleck has definitely been paying attention on set. While I’d say he’s the real deal, I’m not sure how much range he’ll have with stories not set in the Boston area with Boston-accented characters, although I’m anxious to be proven wrong.
It’s also a breakout star turn for Casey Affleck, who generally gets relegated to background roles, but here is very impressive as a PI investigating the kidnapping of a little girl. He’s equal parts sensitive hero and gun-toting badass, which makes for a good combination on him.
A well-crafted story with real moral implications, combined with the sharp direction doesn’t let the viewers out easy. I’ll be looking for more from Affleck. Hopefully he stays behind the camera more.
