Gone Baby Gone

This weekend my truly delightful girlfriend brought me another DVD to watch. While it wasn’t a horror, it was probably far more harrowing due to the subject matter.

The release of Gone Baby Gone was delayed for a long time in the UK because of the Madeline McCann case. At first I thought the decision to pull the movie just before its release was an over-reaction, but quickly realised why it was done. The resemblance between ‘Maddy’ and the girl that goes missing in the film is striking. An unfortunate coincidence to say the least.

However, Gone Baby Gone was eventually released over here and I am very happy to say that, thanks to the gorgeous woman in my life (in case you’re wondering I’m still paying for my earlier Horror Movie post), I was finally able to see what all the fuss was about.

Now I’ve always rated Ben Affleck as an actor more than most people. What he has been guilty of, in my opinion, is accepting roles in too many bad movies. Matt Damon has made far better choices since Good Will Hunting, but that doesn’t mean that Affleck is a poor actor. Plus I don’t care what anyone else says, Daredevil was awesome.

Regardless of this, when I’ve heard people talking about Gone Baby Gone the consensus seems to be that Casey is the better actor of the Affleck brothers and that Ben should stay behind the camera. While I thought this might possibly be a back-handed compliment, having seen the film I now know what they mean, and it is in no way insulting.

This is the first time I’ve seen Casey in a lead role (I still haven’t watched The Assassination of Jesse James - careless I know) and he is excellent. I always liked him in the few movies I’d seen him in previously, and always thought he was the most under-rated character in Good Will Hunting, but this was the first time I really got to appreciate what a great talent he is. His performance is subtle but extremely believable and it is him that makes the film so uncomfortably real.

While it’s not something that people seem to appreciate these days, but Ben Affleck is a pretty good writer – he won an Oscar for it and everything. Not only did he help write another excellent film with Gone Baby Gone, but he also did an excellent job of directing it too. The bleak, depressing story is made all the more real for the world that Ben creates and you could be forgiven for thinking that the film was lead by a far more experienced director.

I realise that there is nothing new or insightful about what I’m saying here. Most people have written the same thing about this film and the Affleck brothers 18 months ago. However, I feel I can get away with it as I don’t think many people in the UK have really discovered this one yet and, if they get the chance, they should watch it as soon as possible.