Gone Baby Gone Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Gone Baby Gone

Here in the UK ' Gone Baby Gone ' was due to be released in December of last year but due to it having a very similar story to the highly publicised real life disappearance of four year Madeleine McCann who went missing in Portugal while on her holiday with her parents , it has yet to be released .Unfortunately she it has still not been found.

I managed to get hold of a copy ( Don't ask how! ) and apart from the fact that the girl is four and looks remarkably like Madeleine the story has very little in common with the tragic case here in Britain. Hopefully when British tabloid press stops their obsession with the McCann case and the truth of what REALLY happened comes out , Gone Baby Gone will get a UK release.

The story begins in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester, where the gritty, working-class streets are lined with the wreckage of broken families and dreams. It is here that 4 year-old Amanda McCready has gone missing without a trace. The police have failed to turn up even the narrowest of leads, so Amanda's desperate Aunt and Uncle plead with local private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Genarro (Michelle Monaghan) to take the case.

Without a doubt the best thing to come from this film is the performance of Casey Affleck . I was far more impressed with Casey than His brother Ben who directed the film . Ben Affleck managed to catch the gritty feel of a depressed working class Boston suburb but fails miserably to make the story clear enough for the viewer to understand . Or maybe it was just me.!

Half the way through i felt confused to the point of irritation and although it does become clearer near the end what happened to Amanda it felt too contrived and too far fetched to bring me around to loving this film.

It felt a bit of a mess times and it showed that the director was a rookie.

Looking at some of the reviews i have seen i think a few might disagree!

Amy Ryan has received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress and although her performance was good i don't think it merits an academy award. Casey Affleck on the other hand is a massive star in the making.

6 out of 10

My review of Gone Baby Gone

Gone Baby Gone follows two private detectives investigating the kidnapping of a little girl on the gritty streets of boston. In his directing debut it becomes quickly apparent that Ben affleck is clearly better at directing than acting, he delivers a visually engaging, well paced adaptation of the book that the film is based on. It ticks all the boxes in terms of casting and acting, and the soundtrack isnt bad either. The only downside is the thick boston accents which were a bit hard to understand in places. Dont let that put you off though as the film is hugely entertaining. Im not going to give away the plot, but there are alot of twists that leave you giddy with excitement and on the edge of your seat right to the end. Ignoring the entertaining qualities of the film there are some thought-provoking moments, and then theres the sobre-ing likeness between madeline mc cann and the kidnapped girl. Its emotional stuff. Again the casting was very good, with good performances from all of them, especially Casey Affleck and Amy Ryan.And the directing is great, youll like this film if you liked training day, the departed or scarface. its well worth buying, and is a definate for renting.