Gone Baby Gone

Without a final twist and uncompromisingly leaving the question “What is right?”, it would only have been a thriller with brilliant direction and performances, but with that Gone Baby Gone becomes an exceptionally intense experience and a superb drama. But is the answer to that question really that hard? Not for me. (28/07/2008)

Do you remember Ben Affleck? Definitely, yes, his star hasn't fallen, quite the opposite. He is the actor that many people couldn't stand precisely because of how he acts/doesn't act. However, he managed to win an Oscar. Not surprisingly, for the screenplay of the movie "Good Will Hunting". It turned out that he is not only a great screenwriter but also an excellent director. His first success was precisely the film "Gone Baby Gone", for which he also wrote the screenplay. If something speaks to you in the movie, then it is love for the city. Not the beautiful things that are shown to tourists, but love for the city as it is. "Gone Baby Gone" is not a detective story, it is mainly focused on one person who seeks justice at any cost. The law is the law, and even though his methods are very harsh, his language is not refined, and his age is young, he always seeks the truth at any cost. A great, powerful story about a child abduction, a brilliant ending, and unexpectedly good performances by the actors. Maybe it's because an actor who becomes a director knows what he wants from actors. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/04/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-005-reziser.html (15/02/2013)

A powerful drama, very well written, but above all brilliantly directed. I’m inclined to agree with the opinion about the intellectual overtones mentioned several times here, the dilemma that is transferred from the main character to the viewer at the end is impressive and the last shot, my God, is perfection itself. And most importantly, the whole narrative has oomph and it doesn't matter if it's the chillingly harsh scene with a paedophile in the second half of the film or a simple dialogue between the two protagonists. A true joy to watch. And Casey Affleck? He articulates weird, he looks weird, he acts weird, but all of that together create a very interesting person that I couldn't take my eyes off. Ben, in the future, act as you did in Hollywoodland, while continuing to develop your undoubted directorial talent, and I have no choice but to repeat myself: "It was a great pleasure." (28/01/2008)

I can forgive a lot of things, but the fact that the film gets virtually nowhere despite three tons of moralizing and wannabe "think about that" bullshit, hardly. I'm not of the opinion that a film needs to have a statement, but if it's fucking pretending to be one all the time, it could at least live up to expectations. An asterisk for the scene in the pedophile's lair. (10/11/2009)

It was "only" a good film until the final reveal, but then it became a great film, one of those that really makes you think about how you would have acted yourself. And that's valuable these days. I love Dennis Lehane's books and it's a good thing that this one I couldn't get hold of for so long and unlike Mystic River or Shutter Island I hadn't read it before the film. My surprise and my experience were all the greater. I think Morgan Freeman gave one of his best performances ever in a relatively small space. (15/03/2015)