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Gone Baby Gone - Review Hot

DVD Reviews

Studio: The Weinstein Company
Genre: Drama
Street Date: 2/12/08
Director: Ben Affleck
Number of Discs: 1
MPAA Rating: R
Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Amy Ryan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton
Running Time: 114 Minutes
Format: Standard

DVD Specs: Standard Version:
Aspect ratio: (1.85:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Spanish Language Track, French & Spanish subtitles
Special Features: Extended ending
Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Writer/Director Ben Affleck and Writer Aaron Stockard
Going Home:Behind the scenes with Ben Affleck
Capturing Authenticity: Casting Gone Baby Gone
Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Ben Affleck & Writer Aaron Stockard
Version: Standard DVD
Review: Gone Baby Gone (non-spoiler review)

Ben Affleck has long been a man in need of a little charity; through the worst of the public ridicule he exposed himself to by dating JLO or by signing up for Gigli /Jersey Girl / Reindeer Games / Paycheck…. (you get the gist), we in the Deez household were fans. After all, this is a man held in esteem by Kevin Smith; a man who helped launch Project Greenlight (whatever the results of each project have been, the sentiment behind the idea says a lot about Affleck & Damon); a man who stumped for Al Gore before Brangelina made activism cool.

That said, even I had my doubts when his directorial debut landed on our doorstep for review. The man can write a script; he can emote; but shouldn’t he maybe start with an episode of CSI or something?

I’ve been schooled.

Gone Baby Gone is based on a novel written by the same man who penned Mystic River. Both take place in the poorer areas of Boston; both have the same motley crew of realistic local color. Affleck managed to pull together a stellar cast (including Casey Affleck, Ben’s younger brother in the leading role), keep the look and feel fairly uniform with Eastwood’s Mystic, and wrap me into the twists and turns of the dark story like a true pro.

As we will soon learn to expect from this author, it’s impossible to tell who in this tale is “good” or “bad”, perhaps even after the credits have rolled. This is a whodunit of the darkest proportions; if you are trying to escape the evils of the world and forget things like the suffering of children at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them, pick another flick. While I thought this was a very well done movie, I myself had to cleanse my palette with a little “Dodgeball” before going to bed; I was that upset.

Casey Affleck states in one of the extra features that a good story doesn’t answer moral questions; it asks them. Without giving anything away, I can say, Well Played, Ben. Well Played. I heatedly debated the moral decision at the heart of the story with my other half; I still feel that our different answers to the dilemma our hero faced could mean that we are inherently different, that perhaps our moral compasses point so differently as to be a potential future problem.

(Casey) Affleck’s Patrick Kenzie and girlfriend Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are Private Investigators who take on their first big case when a young neighborhood girl goes missing. The local police (Morgan Freeman) as the tragic Captain, Ed Harris and John Ashton as the detectives assigned to “help” the newbies out quickly pass from clichéd resistance to realistic guys who are doing their best with a horrific situation. As our heroes try desperately to recover the missing four year old, they are blocked or aided by unlikely players until the very last minute.

I will say that I don’t quite understand the Oscar nomination for Amy Ryan, who plays the child’s unsympathetic mother in grief. She did all right, but didn’t exactly blow my socks off.

It’s impossible to say much more about this movie without taking away from some of its surprises. Bottom line, be ready for a movie done well enough to make you question your own concept of right or wrong in a horrific world.

Packaging Design:

Pretty standard keepcase with slipcover. Variation of the movie poster with floating heads (apparently people have been complaining about the heads on posters? Too much time on your hands, folks)….

Popping the disk in gives us one annoying anti-smoking trailer. I don’t care how noble the cause; I hate forced trailers of any kind. The menu system is simple, but right for the mood of the movie.

Presentation:

Video: Picture was clear, nothing spectacular, but then again I am hardly the connoisseur Deez is…

Audio: Surround Sound had some great atmospheric effects. Definitely gave the rear channels a workout during the few gun battles. Dialogue was crystal clear, levels solid. Decent audio transfer.

All in All:

Great movie, put together as well as we could ask for. A solid buy for somebody seeking the unusual, quality addition to their collection.
Buy It Now:
Rating: 4 Stars

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