Gone, Baby, Gone (2007)

The greatest crime behind "Gone, Baby, Gone" is that this film wasn't a box office hit. It bombed, sadly. It was one of the best films of 2007. It's certainly the only one, even alongside the better "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," to really create a moral quandary for the intelligent viewer for that year.

It's slick, smart, creepy, complex and beautifully acted. It's directed by Ben Affleck, who I now apologize for all the nasty things I've said about him. He kills here as director and co-writer; this is the birth of a soon-to-be-great director.

Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, the story concerns two young, seemingly out-of-their-game Boston detectives and lovers (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monoghan) as they investigate the disappearance of a local girl. In addition to local thugs, detectives Patrick and Angie also must deal with egocentric police detectives (Ed Harris and John Ashton), who guard their turf and disdain the young adults. Morgan Freeman is a higher-up police official and Amy Ryan is the bratty, troubled, drug-addled mother, who shockingly seems ambivalent about the whole affair.

The film is deep and beautiful; and it captures inner city life in exact detail (I've never been to Boston, but I grew up in Philly and knew many similar neighborhoods). This film uses real locations and real residents on screen, whereas most Hollywood affairs would bus in beautiful, screen-friendly actors and use painted sets on a studio.

Except for maybe a coincidence too many, "Gone, Baby, Gone" is near perfect, especially with Casey Affleck in the lead role. No mere nepotism here, he is fantastic in the role of the morally troubled detective who's figuring out adulthood a bit late. In a shocking scene mid-way through the film, Patrick shoots a pedophile point blank in the back of the skull. Was he right? Was he wrong? Did he sin by killing an inhuman man? When is a sin the correct thing to do?

Ben Affleck never tells us. He let's us decide. What a treat! A film that believes the viewer is intelligent.

And at the end of the film, after Patrick makes another choice he considers right, we're asked again - what's right? What's wrong? What's moral?

This film is light years ahead of Hollywood piffle like "An Eye for Eye" and "Untraceable." It's a film to debate and dissect and think about. To say more would ruin the film, but, man, what a treat to see an intelligent film that seeks an intelligent audience. A-