What Do The Critics Say?

"Casey Affleck turns in his second consecutive powerful performance in "Gone Baby Gone", an enigmatic crime drama co-written and directed by big brother Ben. Some of the scenes (Patrick's terrifying encounter with some neighborhood bar bullies, early on, being one of them) are as well choreographed as any from The Departed. "Gone Baby Gone" is a memorable film with an abundance of engrossing scenes." David Kaplan KAPLAN VS KAPLAN "Actor Ben Affleck makes his directorial debut here, and it goes without saying that the film is a far more accomplished and flat-out compelling piece of work than anybody could've expected." David Nusair REEL FILM REVIEWS "Under the shrewd eye of director Affleck, the film allows layers of details to work their magic, changing the emotional climate and sending the story off into several unexpected turns." Lori Hoffman ATLANTIC CITY WEEKLY "Ben directs Casey in Gone Baby Gone, and it’s a career highlight for both of them." Richard Roeper EBERT & ROEPER "The film is full of scenes that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck." Bruce Newman SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS "Affleck's stepped up to Eastwood and Scorcese, his "Gone Baby Gone" completing a trilogy of sorts begun with "Mystic River" and continued with "The Departed". It's as Boston as baked beans." Laura Clifford REELING REVIEWS "A tightly controlled, carefully modulated piece of drama that will keep you thinking long after you've left the theatre." Robert W Butler KANSAS CITY STAR "If there had been any justice, "Gone Baby Gone," the taut directorial debut from Ben Affleck, should have been a contender for the best-picture Oscar. Then there's the way Affleck drenches the film in the atmosphere of a tough, working-class Boston neighborhood, which complements the edgy story based on "Mystic River" writer Dennis Lehane's novel." Barry Caine MERCURY NEWS

"I guess Ben Affleck deserves an apology. After a lot of early humiliation, he was a political pundit to reckon with at the Democratic convention, and gave a sensational performance as ill-fated Superman star George Reeves in the grossly underrated Hollywoodland. Now he makes his debut as a director with this gritty, realistic crime drama set in the same ugly, blue-collar Boston neighborhood as Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River and based on another novel by the same author, Dennis Lehane. Mr. Affleck is laying the foundation, brick by brick, for a promising new career." Rex Reed NEW YORK OBSERVER "Ben Affleck as finally found his niche (as a director). This dark, hard bitten mystery is one of the best films of the year. This is a dark, hard bitten, profane thriller. Ben gets terrific performances out of everyone. His sense of timing is superb. Despite a running time of five minutes under two hours, there is never a sense that time is dragging." Tony Medley TOLUCAN TIMES "Like other recent down-and-dirty Boston crime dramas (Mystic River, The Departed), Gone Baby Gone is a kind of modern slum noir: a twisty and ambiguous tale set in a dark, profane world with no real black and white, but lots of gray. By marrying an intense thriller with bigger issues and a three-dimensional lead, Gone Baby Gone isn't only hard-hitting, it's also meaningful, emotional and resonating. Based on the fourth book in a series by author Dennis Lehane (author of Mystic River)." Todd Hertz CHRISTIANITY TODAY "Ben's work on Gone Baby Gone is absolutely amazing. Alongside Sarah Polley (Away from Her), Ben tops the list of smashing debuts this year. It thus poses the question could he be a bigger success behind the camera than in front of it? Regardless of whether he decides to continue as an actor, as a director or as a careful balance of the two careers, it's clear that we could be seeing greater things from him in the future. A crime thriller that redefines how character-centered stories can be approached." Wesley Lovell OSCAR GUY

The Inside Story Each day in America, two thousand children are reported missing. That's seven hundred and twenty thousand annually. In Britian over one hundred thousand children go missing each year. In australia, around thirty thousand people go missing each year. Of this number sixteen thousand five hundred are young people and children. When you exclude people missing from institutions almost two thirds of these missing persons are under the age of eighteen. The sad statistic for Australians is that around one percent of these who go missing will not be located. The hard-boiled detective novels of Dennis Lehane, which mix high-wire suspense with vivid characters and provocative themes from the crime-saturated inner city, have come to the fore over the last few years as some of America’s most intriguing contemporary fiction. The territory Lehane plows is not just that of noir felonies and suspenseful police hunts but even more so of the human heart in all its knotted complications, which has led the ranks of his fans (including former President Bill Clinton and the master thriller writer Stephen King) to swell far beyond the boundaries of the crime genre. Lehane is perhaps best known for his novel "Mystic River", which became a critically lauded motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood. Lehane was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He has written seven novels: "A Drink Before the War", "Darkness", "Take My Hand", "Sacred", "Gone Baby Gone", "Prayers for Rain", "Mystic River" and "Shutter Island". Mystic River was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award and won both the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel as well as the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction given by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Lehane's novel "Gone Baby Gone" an unflinching and all too topical exploration of crimes against children, tells the tale of one missing child, four year old Amanda McCready. As a Boston native with an undying passion for the city, Ben Affleck had heard several recommendations through the years to check out Lehane’s novels. As it turns out, he started with "Gone Baby Gone" and was instantly hooked. "I loved the complex and polarizing characters and at the same time, I found it constantly surprising and compelling," says Affleck. Although he wasn’t yet sure what he would do with them, Affleck began to inquire into the rights for the series, which where held by producer Alan Ladd Jr, son of late actor great actor Alan Ladd (3/9/1913 – 29/1/1964). Ladd, who is famous for giving George Lucas the go-ahead to make "Star Wars", had bought Lehane’s book "Prayer For Rain" several years ago through his Ladd Company, then based at Paramount. With that purchase, they acquired the rights to the Kenzie and Gennaro characters. "Ben came to see me about the rights," says Ladd. "He said he wanted to write the screenplay and I said absolutely since he had already won the Academy Award ® and proved he was a superior writer." Affleck, who co-wrote the 1998 Academy Award ® winning Best Original Screenplay with Matt Damon remembers: "I thought about adapting the book, but I’d never done an adaptation before, and I didn’t even know if I could do an adaptation." The story continued to haunt him, so Affleck called in his long-time friend Aaron Stockard. Stockard, who had gone to high school with Affleck in Boston recalls: "Ben called me up after reading the novel and asked me to take a look and give him my opinion. Well, the book was really appealing to me, just as it was to Ben, because it’s such a Boston story and we both grew up together in Boston. The thematic questions the book asks fuelled such interesting conversations between us. We really felt these characters were worth telling a story about." As they wrote, the material began to resonate even deeper with Affleck, who during that two year period of time had become a parent. It shifted his whole perspective on the world. Now, the story’s pitting of a child’s innocence against threats of all kinds, from outright criminal evil to simple neglect, took on an even greater power. "Being a father, and understanding what it truly feels like to have a person in the world that you would die for, really made me look at this story differently," Affleck explained. "It took on an even deeper resonance for me, which I think greatly influenced the point of view of the screenplay." Affleck gave the completed screenplay to his producing partner, Sean Bailey ("The Core"). He was exhilarated by its power. "It had such a strong narrative and a heck of a plot but most of all, it was profoundly emotional. Reading it really affected me," he said. Indeed, by the time the screenplay was finished, Affleck’s vision of it was so fully formed, he began to entertain the idea of directing the film as well, even though he’d never done it before. "I’ve always wanted to direct a film and I felt like I had such a strong understanding of this story," he notes. Producer Alan Ladd Jr ("Braveheart") was all in favor the idea. "I think actors can make very good directors and there’s a great history there with Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood," Ladd observed. "I was so impressed with Ben’s take on the book and I can’t tell you how pleased I am that he did direct it. Working with Ben was great. Aside from the fact that he's a true gentleman, I believe he will become one of the very top directors in the business. His instincts are great, and from the moment we started, it was evident that he knew exactly where he was going with this film. I would love to work with him again." The task of casting the film started with the characters at the heart of the story: Boston’s co-ed private eye duo, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Genarro. To play Patrick, Ben Affleck turned to an actor he knew without a doubt understood the rhythm and hue of Boston neighborhoods: his brother Casey ("The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford"). "I know him so well, I know every little tic, and I know when he’s being false and when he’s being true," says the director. "What makes this story so unique is all the emotional fallout from the events of the investigation," says Casey Affleck (Virgil Malloy in "Ocean's Thirteen"). "The thing that always struck me is that the central question of the movie is can you do something bad to ultimately do something good: and also, can you do something good that ultimately hurts people? And everyone in the movie, including Patrick, has to answer those questions." On working with his brother, he says: "You know I’m really proud of Ben because he did such an incredible job and also created a really collaborative atmosphere that was both fun and professional." The search for the actress to play Angie Genarro, led to Michelle Monaghan, who will next be seen in "Made Of Honour". For Monaghan, the chance to play such an unusually gutsy yet heartfelt female character was one she couldn’t pass up. "There are not a lot of characters out there like Angie," she admits. "I loved the idea that she was doing a man’s job. I was definitely drawn to that. And after reading the script, I was absolutely moved by the story as well. I was really struck by how it explores so many gray areas, morally and ethically, and the way different characters have such different views when it comes to parents and children and right and wrong. I thought it would make for a really thought-provoking film." For Affleck, the casting of rising screen actress Amy Ryan ("Capote") as Helene McCready, was a lynchpin of the entire film. "In some ways, Helene is really the most pivotal part of the movie, and I got super lucky with Amy," he says. "Her character is very polarizing and some people will feel one thing about her and others another thing." "Helene is one of those women who are all too familiar in this country, a woman who grew up with both economic and educational challenges," Ryan observes. "She’s a single mom who’s just trying to get by the best she can and raise her child. She’s one of those people who, on the surface, it might be very easy to judge and simply say that she’s a terrible mother. She’s a tough character, a funny character." Detective Remy Bressant is played by Golden Globe winner Ed Harris ("The Truman Show"). "Ed Harris was always my first choice," the director says. "He’s one of the great American actors, on par with anyone out there. He really was amazing." 1996 Screen Actor's Guild Award winner Harris ("Apollo 13") was thrilled when Affleck approached him. He’s been a long-time fan of Lehane’s books. "Remy’s a pretty intense guy. He’s a bit of a rebel, but I think he’s also got a good heart and wants to do the right thing," Harris offers. And was he impressed with Affleck? "I personally loved working with him. Ben’s a straight shooter." Award ® winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby"), a long-time friend of Ben Affleck, was cast as the head of the Crimes Against Children unit, Captain Jack Doyle. "We couldn’t imagine anybody out there other than Morgan Freeman in this role and Ben and Morgan had worked together on "Sum of All Fears" so they already had a personal and professional relationship," producer Bailey ("Matchstick Men") explained. Freeman notes: "what’s interesting is that every character in this story is connected to others in secret ways." John Ashton ("Beverly Hills Cop" & "Midnight Run") plays Bressant’s partner, Detective Nicholas 'Poole' Raftapolous. "I loved this story and the relationship between Poole and Remy," Ashton said. "These are characters with a lot of different layers." The film provided a reunion for the two actors. "Ed and I did Sam Shepard’s "True West" together twenty five years ago in Los Angeles, and this is the first time since then that we have been able to work together." Ed Harris's wife, 1985 & 1995 CableACE Award winner Amy Madigan plays Amanda’s Aunt Beatrice. Titus Welliver ("Mulholland Falls" & "Twisted"), better known to fans as Silas Adams from the runaway Western hit, "Deadwood" plays the missing childs, Uncle Lionel. Synopsis

In the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester, where the gritty, working-class streets are lined with the wreckage of broken families and dreams, four year old Amanda McCready has gone missing without a trace. The police have so far, failed to turn up even the narrowest of leads, so Amanda’s desperate Aunt and Uncle plead with local private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Genarro to take the case. Though they’re wary to jump in, Patrick and Angie know the neighborhood and they also know the truth about Amanda’s drug addicted mother Helene. As they dig into her story, they find themselves on a trail that winds into the dark heart of Dorchester and through a chain of drug-dealers, ex-cons and child abusers. Their efforts bring them no closer to Amanda. In the glare of the media spotlight, they join forces with the relentless Detective Remy Bressant and a police captain, Jack Doyle.

The Verdict "While Ben Affleck has plenty of movie fans, it hasn't been the same when it comes to the movie critics. Over the years he's copped a real belting from them. A belting that has left many cinemagoers scratching their heads. Now the worm has turned and the much maligned actor, who provided moviegoers with plenty of entertaining moments in films such as "Good Will Hunting", "Armageddon", "Pearl Harbor", "Changing Lanes", "The Sum of All Fears", "Paycheck", "Hollywoodland" and "Smokin' Aces" (were they all bad) has many of those critics jumping on the bandwagon and lauding him as the next great director. But don't worry, because there is still a small number who aren't prepared to give credit where credit is overwhelmingly due. Fact is, Affleck has finally made them eat humble pie and I for one am glad he did. As 2003 Cannes Film Festival Carrosse d'Or Award winner Eastwood did with "Mystic River", Affleck has captured the hearts of cinema audiences with this powerful, agonizing, thought provoking adaptation of another Dennis Lehane novel. But its not just the Affleck's direction and adaptation that stands out. The cast is faultless. NBR Award winner Cassey Affleck, who turned critics heads with a standout performance as Rober Ford in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; 2006 NSFC Award winner Ed Harris ("A History Of Violence"); 2007 NBR Award winner Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone"); 1990 Golden Globe winner Amy Madigan ("Roe vs Wade"); Michelle Monaghan ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"); John Ashton ("Beverly Hills Cop" I & II), all play rich, absorbing characters in this remarkabley entertaining film. "Gone Baby Gone" is a first-class production on every level. Highest commendation. 5 STARS." Crew Bytes "GONE BABY GONE" was .......
directed by Ben Affleck ["Gone Baby Gone"]; screenplay by Academy Award ® winner Ben Affleck ["Good Will Hunting"]; adapted from the novel by USC Scripter Award winner Dennis Lehane ["Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone"]; costume design by Alix Friedberg ["Cursed", "A Lot Like Love" and "Dan In Real Life"]; production design by Sharon Seymour ["Bad Santa", "Friday Night Lights" and "Because I Said So"]; edited by William Goldenberg A.C.E. ["Seabiscuit", "The Insider" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight"]; cinematography by two time Academy Award ® winner John Toll ["Captain Corelli's Mandolin", "Vanilla Sky" and "The Last Samurai"]; original music by Annie Award winner Harry Gregson-Williams ["Déjà Vu", "Man on Fire", "Shrek" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"]. Who's Who?

Casey Affleck Michelle Monaghan Morgan Freeman Ed Harris John Ashton Amy Ryan Amy Madigan Titus Welliver Michael Williams Edi Gathegi Mark Margolis Madeline O'Brien Slaine Trudi Goodman Matthew Maher Jill Quigg Sean Malone Brian Scannell Jay Giannone William Lee Jimmy LeBlanc Fanshen Cox Kippy Goldfarb Elizabeth Duff Cathie Callanan Cameron Henry Bobby Curcuro

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Patrick Kenzie Angie Gennaro Capt Jack Doyle Det Remy Bressant Det Nick Poole Helene McCready Beatrice 'Bea' McCready Lionel McCready Devin Cheese Leon Trett Amanda McCready Bubba Rogowski Roberta Trett Corwin Earle Dottie Skinny Ray Likanski Lenny Steve Penteroudakis Big Dave Chris Mullen Doyle's Secretary Francine Doyle Mrs Bressant Mrs Poole Jimmy Pietro Bobby

Run Time 114 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Buena Vista International - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.