By: debbie lynn elias
An intricately woven, masterful tale, filled with intrigue and suspense, well drawn characters addressing basic moral issues common to everyman be he on the right or wrong side of the law, and a multiplicity of surprises, is the patented and well embraced style of author Dennis Lehane. With page 1, he touches on a single nerve and then reels you in hook, line and sinker as the story travels the rocky shoals of life. Knowing that, I had more than doubts when I initially heard some time ago that Ben Affleck was writing the script for one of Lehane’s best works, GONE BABY GONE. I had even greater doubts when I learned Affleck was making his directorial debut with the film. I admit it. I never thought Affleck could pull this project off. But let me tell you, he does. Oh boy does he.
Amanda McCready is a cute-as-a-button 4 year old. Living with her cocaine sniffing, alcoholic, partying mother Helene, Amanda’s good fortune lies with her Aunt Bea. (No joke folks.) Weathered, naive in many respects, and childless, Bea is married to Helene’s brother Lionel, himself a seemingly upstanding blue collar guy, and Amanda is the apple of their eyes. Living together in a two story shingled family home in Boston’s slightly “seedy” and diverse Dorchester area, Bea and Lionel are more parents to Amanda than Helene could ever be. Constantly dumping Amanda on Bea and Lionel while she’s out with the girls, picking up guys, Helene is a train wreck.
Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are up and coming private investigators. Working and living together as partners, they make ends meet doing the occasional skip tracings and credit checks, all without the burden of badges thus making them more acceptable to the residents. But their quiet lives take an about face when Bea McCready shows up at their door. Amanda is missing. She has been missing for 3 days and although the police have ruled it a kidnaping, Bea doesn’t think the police and their Crimes Against Children unit is doing enough to find her. Unfortunately, statistics show that if a victim isn’t found within 3 days, chances are they are already dead. In a quandary over whether to take the case, Patrick ultimately agrees with a very reluctant Angie in tow.
Angered at Bea’s hiring of some lowly P.I.’s, Police Captain Jack Doyle and Detectives Remy Bressant and Nick Poole, nevertheless reluctantly agree to let Patrick and Angie join in on the investigation, if for no other reason than Patrick’s blue collar connections may provide some leads. As luck would have it, Patrick learns that a very large sum of money belonging to the local drug king pin went missing right about the same time as Amanda. Could there be a connection? And if so, what?
Pushing the envelope as far as possible, a ransom demand is ultimately received. Bressant, a hot shot by the book cop from New Orleans, decides to trade cash for Amanda and without Captain Doyle’s knowledge, sets up the exchange. The time – sometime around 11:00 p.m. The place – the top of a large quarry that during the daylight is so clean, so pure, so pristine, the surface of the quarry water looks like silken glass. The result. . . . . .that’s for you to find out.
Casey Affleck takes on the daunting role of Patrick Kenzie and talk about surprising! With his first substantial starring role, he does exceedingly well, due in large part to his familiarity and understanding of Boston, the people, the accent. In the book, Kenzie is a man in his 40’s. Ben Affleck, while writing the script, wasn’t enchanted by the character’s age and decided to invigorate the character and the story, making him 29; an age where life can be totally altered by just one event, resulting in the taking of a different fork in the road. And as luck would have it, by writing the character age 29, Casey Affleck was at his disposal. Ed Harris is, as always, magnificent as Remy Bressant. But for a vacillating New Orleans’ accent, he is impeccable. As Bressant, he is a dichotomous paradigm, with underlying unseen motive and emotion that will shock you when all is revealed. A familiar face to “cop” movies and a welcome site here, John Ashton, best known as Detective Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” series, is Detective Nick Poole, the staid, by the book, lifer. Morgan Freeman has minimal screen time as Captain Doyle but makes the most of every second breathing life and believability into a man himself haunted by the loss of a child he couldn’t find.
Amy Ryan is amazing as Helene. Having met her, she is Helene’s antithesis. Sweet, petite, polite, delicate, to know her as that and then see her as the foul-mouthed, drugged out, Tammy Faye Bakker make-up wearing tramp is jaw dropping. Nailing the accent and the look, Ryan is most proud that during filming security wouldn’t let her cross the line onto the set, believing her to be “one of the locals.” And of course, where Ed Harris goes, generally so does his wife Amy Madigan who as Aunt Bea gives a performance such as that we have never seen from her. Besides the physical transformation, your heart will ache watching this woman grieving, yet fighting and hoping for miracles. Wonderful as a devoted aunt kept in the dark about her family and life in general, her heart and warmth radiate. And the casting of the drug dealers, both African American and Caucasian, perfect and the acting was pitch perfect……….
Myself having read almost of all of Lehane’s books, I am quite familiar with his work, his style and the sensory imagery his words create. In adapting the story, which given its depth and intricacies, is difficult at best, Affleck and co-writer Aaron Stockard do a fair, faithful and admirable job of script adaptation. Having to excise many elements of the book, they did an excellent job of winding their way through the labyrinthine complexity of Lehane’s world. As Affleck told me, “As soon as you pull out one little piece, you realize how actually tricky it is because the whole thing comes apart and then you have to rebuild it and then its all patched up and completely broken apart.” This was much more taxing than conceiving a story from scratch.
With GONE BABY GONE, Affleck demonstrates a real flair for directing. While not all of his techniques are appropriate for this film, it does show he has a good eye for visuals and character development. With a clearly collaborative effort between editing and John Toll’s exquisite cinematography, shooting in his beloved Boston, Affleck leans toward slice-of-life choppy editing of the neighborhood and the people, that works overall but at some points, downplays the diversity and harshness of the area and its residents. He doesn’t keep a shot long enough for you to get a handle on the nature of the neighborhood. On the other, there are some interminably long close-ups of Casey’s character that could be eliminated. Clearly loving the “artsy” look of film, Affleck provides some beautiful visual escapes (colorful sunsets, beautiful smog free downtown Boston skyline) as well as pans, slo-mos, fades, but unfortunately, they detract from the hard core grit and seem out of place. One scene however that is simply jaw droppingly incredible and impactful is an aerial pan over the reservoir. Riveting, beautiful, reflective and intense. It does wonders in terms of impressing the horrors that could lie beneath that pristine glaceen surface. Another point of excellence where Affleck excels is keeping all the balls in the air with continual twists and turns, providing one surprise after another. Just when you think it’s over, it’s not.
Despite some of its shortcomings (as is typical with almost all adaptations), this is an excellent directorial debut by Ben Affleck and is guaranteed Oscar consideration. With a superlative cast and a hauntingly riveting story, GONE BABY GONE is one film that won’t be gone from our hearts or minds for a long time.
Casy Affleck – Patrick Kenzie Ed Harris – Remy Bressant John Ashton – Nick Poole Morgan Freeman – Captain Doyle Amy Ryan – Helene McCready Amy Madigan – Bea McCready
Directed by Ben Affleck. Written by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard. Rated R. (114 min)
