2008 Woodie Awards
Affleck's Movie Plot is 'Gone Baby Gone'
New thriller story disappoints, but actor performances triumph.
Claire Webster
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Entertainment
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Adapted from Dennis Lahane's novel "Gone Baby Gone," the film's release went off without a hitch in America, but Buena Vista International has indefinitely suspended the release of the film in the U.K. due to an ongoing investigation with similar characteristics as the film.
"Gone Baby Gone" employs Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) as the private investigators on the case. Kenzie opens the film with a monolog opening the case while the camera pans through houses of those involved.
The duo quickly become the center of the situation as they look for Helene McCready's (Amy Ryan) missing child, Amanda McCready (Madeline O'Brien), in Boston.
As Kenzie and Gennaro start their investigation, they soon find out that the child's life was one that did not involve much happiness thanks to her mother's drug and alcohol abuse. The detectives are not looked upon well by the police department in charge of the investigation and every time the department talks to the investigators, Kenzie ends up feeling like they are lying to him.
The film is shot through the eyes of the investigators and takes the viewers through the plot the way the detectives perceive it. With each new piece of information, the twists and turns become bigger and come to show who the abductor is.
"Gone Baby Gone" approaches the situation of child abduction in an almost opposite manner than the highly acclaimed CBS drama, "Without a Trace."
"Without a Trace" takes the viewer on a ride through the abductee's life and the audience gets to know the person who was taken. While in "Gone Baby Gone," Amanda's life does not seem to be the focus of attention as much as her mother's does.
The audience gets to know Helene much better than Amanda. At times it was a good change from the norm, but on the other hand, it would have been nice to get a closer look at Amanda, seeing as the movie was following the investigation of her abduction.
Halfway throughout, the audience is led to believe that the movie is coming to an end due in part to Kenzie performing another monolog, this time about the closing of the case without answers to any questions. However, instead of concluding, the movie introduces a new case, this time of a missing 7-year-old boy and how Amanda's case still bothered
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