Gone Baby Gone

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Gone Baby Gone
File:Gone baby gone poster.jpg
Promotional film poster
Directed byBen Affleck
Written byBen Affleck
Aaron Stockard
Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane
Produced byBen Affleck
Sean Bailey
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Danton Rissner
StarringCasey Affleck
Michelle Monaghan
Morgan Freeman
Ed Harris
Amy Ryan
John Ashton
CinematographyJohn Toll
Edited byWilliam Goldenberg
Music byHarry Gregson-Williams
Distributed byMiramax
Release dates
United States October 19, 2007
United Kingdom June 6, 2008
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$19,000,000
Box office$34,209,788 (Worldwide)

Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American crime drama/mystery film directed by Ben Affleck. The screenplay by Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The plot centers on two private investigators hunting for an abducted four-year-old girl from the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester.

Plot

When a young girl, Amanda McCready, goes missing in Boston, the case attracts widespread media attention. Private investigator Patrick Kenzie (played by Casey Affleck) and his partner and girlfriend Angie Gennaro (played by Michelle Monaghan) are hired by the child's Aunt Beatrice to find her. Kenzie and Angie discover Amanda's mother Helene and her boyfriend "Skinny Ray" had recently stolen money from a local drug lord. After Ray is murdered, Patrick and Angie join the police detectives investigating the case, Nick Poole and Remy Bressant, to arrange a trade of the money for Amanda. Police Captain Doyle shows Kenzie a telephone transcript of the drug lord setting up an exchange for Amanda. The exchange at a nearby quarry in Quincy is botched and Amanda is believed to have drowned. Captain Doyle, whose own daughter was also killed years before, takes responsibility and goes into early retirement.

Two months later, a seven-year-old boy is abducted in Everett and Kenzie receives information that the boy was taken by a known child molester. After entering the house and finding evidence of the abducted boy, Kenzie returns later with Nick and Remy to rescue him. They are seen by the residents and Nick is shot. Kenzie enters the house and finds one of the residents dead. After being shot at, Kenzie retreats into the child molester's room. He finds the child molester in the room and the boy's dead body in the bathroom, and kills the child molester.

Nick later dies in a hospital. Trying to alleviate Kenzie's guilt over the murder, Remy confides in Kenzie that he once planted evidence on someone. During the story, Remy inadvertently reveals that he knew "Skinny Ray" prior to Amanda's abduction. The fact that Remy lied during the investigation puzzles Kenzie, who speaks to a police officer after Nick's funeral. The police officer tells Kenzie that Remy had been asking about the drug lord's stolen money before the drug lord knew it was missing. Kenzie questions Amanda's Uncle Lionel and pieces together that Lionel and Remy conspired in a false kidnapping in order to take the money for themselves and to save Amanda from her mother's poor parenting. At that point, Remy enters the bar and stages a robbery while wearing a latex mask and holding a shotgun. He points the shotgun at Lionel's head, but the bartender shoots Remy twice in the back. Remy flees and is pursued by Kenzie to the rooftop of a nearby building, where he dies.

Kenzie is later questioned about Remy's death, and discovers that the transcript that led to the botched exchange for Amanda was a forgery. Kenzie drives with Angie to Captain Doyle's home looking for answers. He discovers Amanda is alive and living very happily with Doyle and his wife. A flashback reveals Amanda's death was staged, and that Doyle was a part of the phony kidnapping all along. Kenzie threatens to call the authorities, but Doyle attempts to convince him that Amanda is better off living with them than with her drug-addicted, careless mother. Kenzie departs to discuss the choice with Angie, who says she will leave him if he calls the police. The police arrive and Doyle is arrested. Amanda is reunited with her mother, and Kenzie and Angie break up. Kenzie later visits Amanda and Helene as Helene is about to leave on a date. She has no babysitter and just plans on having a neighbor check on Amanda, so Kenzie volunteers to watch Amanda. The film ends with Kenzie and Amanda watching television.

Cast

Release

Released on October 19, 2007, the film has grossed an estimated $20,300,218 domestically and $13,909,570 in other territories for a worldwide total of $34,209,788 as of July 6, 2008.[1]

The UK release was originally set for December 28, 2007 but was pushed back to June 6, 2008 due to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on February 12, 2008. Extras include commentary by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, deleted scenes, and two behind-the-scenes featurettes.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Australia on September 10, 2008.

Critical reception

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. As of June 15, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported 94% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 158 reviews.[2] The review aggregator Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 34 reviews.[3]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone raved "The brothers Affleck both emerge triumphant in this mesmerizing thriller," [4] while the New York Post called it "a twisty, morally ambiguous and satisfying neo-noir".[5] Patrick Radden Keefe criticized the film for overstating the case in an otherwise laudable attempt to "capture Boston in all its sordid glory," writing that "The result is not so much what Mean Streets did for New York as what Deliverance did for Appalachia."[6] In the UK, Gone Baby Gone received extremely positive reviews, including a five-star rating from Chris Tookey of the Daily Mail [citation needed].

In an issue of Vrij Nederland, dutch critic and writer Arnon Grunberg called the book good, but the movie better. He also quouted: "Gone Baby Gone might not be a perfect film, but it's definitely an important one".[7]

Top ten lists

The film appeared on 65 critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[8][9]

Awards

Wins

  • Alliance of Women Film Journalists Association
  • Houston Film Critics Associaton
  • San Diego Film Critics Circle
  • St. Louis Gateway Critics
  • Utah Film Critics

Nominated

  • Dallas Fort-Worth Film Critics Association
  • Detroit Film Critics Society
  • Online Film Critics Association

References

  1. ^ BoxOffice Mojo
  2. ^ "Gone Baby Gone - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  3. ^ "Gone Baby Gone (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  4. ^ "Gone Baby Gone: Review: Rolling Stone". 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "author" ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Ben Flair, Done That". 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "author" ignored (help)
  6. ^ Keefe, Patrick Radden (2007-10-23). "Ben Affleck's Boston: His portrait of the city is far from perfect — but at least it's not wicked bad". Slate.
  7. ^ Grunberg, Arnon (2008-01-12). "Home is where they'd kill for you". Ben Affleck filmed Gone Baby Gone, based on the book by thriller author Dennis Lehane about the kidnapping of a child. The Book is good, but the movie is better. (in Dutch). Vrij Nederland. pp. 68–71. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. ^ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  9. ^ www.criticstop10.com
  10. ^ David Germain (2007-12-27). "'No Country for Old Men' earns nod from AP critics". Associated Press, via Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2007-12-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

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