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It looks about as bad as you'd expect a film bearing the moniker "Directed by Ben Affleck" to look. And Ben must have lost a bet at the last family Christmas to get stuck his mumbling, mannered brother in the lead role.

I feel bad for Lehane. The McKenzie/Gennaro books are above average thrillers that, in the right hands, could have made an engaging, successful franchise (DARKNESS TAKE MY HAND, in particular, has great movie potential). Judging from this trailer, though, the series will be one and out.

I dunno, to me I can't tell if the trailer is suffering from trailer-itis (distilling an interesting movie, into a conventional trailer) or is just formulaic.

That said, I disagree about Casey Affleck. I think he is one of the most interesting, underrated actors currently going. I particularly like that he isn't traditionally handsome or built, but his performances are always great. I'm actually glad to see him in a lead role in a pretty big production, and I'm looking forward to seeing him work in a larger capacity opposite of Brad Pitt in The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.

Casey is definitely the superior Affleck. He was great in Gerry, he's a lot of fun in the Ocean's movies. People who have seen Jesse James say he's a revelation.

I'll wait for rotten tomatoes before I buy a ticket...

I'll admit that I'm anxiously awaiting this. Casey Affleck is one of the more interesting actors working today. He was the MVP of the Ocean's series and carried Lonesome Jim as far as it could go. Also, I find Ben Affleck to be an intelligent, likeable guy who's made some stupid career choices in the past. He's had awhile to work on this and I hope it's a step in the right direction for him.

Is it me or has Morgan Freeman been on a quest to overtake Sam Jackson for most prolific actor since the Oscar win? He must have some gambling debts or something that no one knows about.

Oh shit it's Omar!

The trailer looks somewhat bad (but like said, that might just be the trailer), but if it's got Omar, I'm there!

souvenir wrote:Is it me or has Morgan Freeman been on a quest to overtake Sam Jackson for most prolific actor since the Oscar win?

Sam Jackson's never won an Oscar.

tavernier wrote:

souvenir wrote:Is it me or has Morgan Freeman been on a quest to overtake Sam Jackson for most prolific actor since the Oscar win?

Sam Jackson's never won an Oscar.

I didn't mean to imply that he had, only that Freeman has been making movies left and right (to rival Jackson's output) since he won.

Unsurprisingly, Kevin Smith likes the film.

The kiss of death has been administered.

It's Casey Affleck's year. I have been hearing astonished plaudits for this film for a while. Now The Hollywood Reporter has published their review. Get this:

[i]The Hollywood Reporter[/i] wrote:it's going to be remembered as one of the best crime movies of this decade

The Hollywood Reporter review notes that the source material is the novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River.
I found both books to be un-put-down-able, so the movie could be great.
However, the movie version of Mystic River missed slightly by making everything more dreary and more distant than what drew you into the novel; so, let's see if this actor who thinks he can direct can do even better than that other actor whom we know can direct.

Affleck really can't catch a break. From IMDB:

Affleck Drama Yanked from London Film Festival

The London premiere of Gone Baby Gone, directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck and Morgan Freeman, has been canceled because of plot similarities with the actual case of Madeleine McCann, the British child who disappeared in Portugal in May. The film was to have been screened at the London Film Festival next month and to open in the U.K. in December. The distributor, Disney's Buena Vista International, said that it had postponed the release of the Miramax film in the U.K. indefinitely because of sensitivity "to the depth of feeling surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann." Ironically, the name of the actress who portrays the child at the center of the Gone Baby Gone movie is Madeline -- Madeline O'Brien -- and reportedly bears a striking resemblance to the missing girl.

The novel was published almost ten years ago. Apparently, the punishment for being prescient, even in fiction, is censorship. Time to stop worrying about evil right wingers or crazy left wingers and conclude that we are ready to do ANYTHING in order to avoid giving offense to ANYONE.
Interesting to see the involvement of Disney in this. Here in (what's left of) the U.S., ABC/Disney is declining to release the TV docu-drama "The Path to 9/11" because of the political season and the fact that Hillary is a candidate.
Say what you want about Hillary; at least she's got a pair, which is more than I can say for network and movie executives.

Mike D'Angelo on "The Other Affleck"

And you thought "Mystic River" was downbeat? Wait until you see this one.
Nevertheless, all of us are going to have to take Ben Affleck's face off the dartboard and credit him with a rock solid job as a first time director.
The only criticism I have is that he decided to employ the same damn depressing tone that Eastwood employed for "Mystic River". I read both of the books by Dennis Lehane and "Mystic River" deserves its rather glum exposition on screen, but, "Gone Baby, Gone" read as a page turning thriller. As a movie, this becomes a problem in the second half as the plot twists take over.
Until then, we have a director who knows how to portray the streets of Boston and the unappealing people faced with unappealing choices who inhabit those mean streets. The director gets all of the characters and all of the settings just right, and he does it first time out.

I'm impressed that Affleck & Co. approached Andrew Vachss levels of outrage toward child abusers. While the movie doesn't give the hard, clinical insight into crime that a Vachss novel would, it does show the profound hopelessness and depravity of violence towards children without ever titillating or exciting the audience. This alone makes it an important film.

On an aesthetic level, the film is certainly stylized, but not overly stylized as I expected from a first-time director, much less the buffoonish Affleck. Compared to Eastwood's direction of Mystic River, Affleck's work is less subtle, but oddly, I think, more effective. Multiple viewings of Mystic River have left me ambivalent, despite the filmmakers's best intentions to move me (and I'm almost always taken in by Eastwood's movies). Eastwood and his company of A-listers seemed hellbent on making an important movie, with an important statement. In comparison, Affleck's movie is less self-conscious and more personal and intimate. Gone Baby Gone plays like a love letter to the city of Boston, asking how can the average person live in a city so beautiful, yet so squalid, and among people so familial, yet so selfish. (That's not to insult Boston; the film could be shot on-location anywhere and convey those feelings). Eastwood went for the same idea, but got too caught up in the screen presence of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. On the other hand, Affleck simply gives us a humble, well-rounded film. And judging by the screening I attended, very few will give him the benefit of the doubt and see it.

Highway 61 wrote:...Affleck's movie is less self-conscious and more personal and intimate. Gone Baby Gone plays like a love letter to the city of Boston, asking how can the average person live in a city so beautiful, yet so squalid, and among people so familial, yet so selfish. (That's not to insult Boston; the film could be shot on-location anywhere and convey those feelings). Eastwood went for the same idea, but got too caught up in the screen presence of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. On the other hand, Affleck simply gives us a humble, well-rounded film. And judging by the screening I attended, very few will give him the benefit of the doubt and see it.

I had a very similar reaction. It got a little too pulpy and twisty for me near the end, but was redeemed by the last five minutes and the great final shot. I was very impressed with Affleck's subtlety and assuredness behind the camera. I guess when you're a first-time director, it probably helps to have John Toll as your D.P.

My screening was fairly well attended, but yeah, the film is absolutely tanking at the box office. I'm not sure that Affleck's reputation is to blame though, as I bet half the audience didn't know he was involved until they got there. I noticed the trailers make an effort not to mention him, instead opting for the awkward credit "from the Academy Award winning co-writer of Good Will Hunting." Even the opening credits are quite subtle and his credit goes by in a flash. It's a shame that Affleck or his producers felt like had to hide his authorship, because I'm now convinced he's pretty talented.

Yeah, the flashbacks in the last third distracted from the otherwise solemn tone throughout. Still a very powerful film, and like you, I've been won over by Affleck. I hope he gets another shot at directing soon.

Yeah, I'll be honest, I did not expect much from this other than some decent performances, but I was really impressed by how solid this is.

If the older Affleck never acts again and only directs, that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Highway 61 wrote:Gone Baby Gone plays like a love letter to the city of Boston, asking how can the average person live in a city so beautiful, yet so squalid, and among people so familial, yet so selfish

Jeff wrote:I had a very similar reaction. It got a little too pulpy and twisty for me near the end, but was redeemed by the last five minutes and the great final shot. I was very impressed with Affleck's subtlety and assuredness behind the camera. I guess when you're a first-time director, it probably helps to have John Toll as your D.P.

I finally got around to seeing this today (in a naturally almost-empty theater, but hey) and was pleasantly wowed. I think this is superior to Eastwood's Mystic River in just about every way. Casey Affleck grabs and holds your attention throughout -- he never makes a false move in what should be an Oscar-nominated performance. And the movie kept surprising me, in the directions it took, and its willingness to explore choices and not leave us with a pat ending.

And that final shot, that to my mind echoes a similar (not-closing) shot and concept in Sirk's All That Heaven Allows, was bust-out ballsy. Ben Affleck the Actor is all too easy the butt of Gigli-jokes, but Ben Affleck the Director has my ticket to his next picture well in hand. If this Baby is already gone where you are, please check it out on DVD. I think it must be highly rewarding, box office aside, to know you've made a terrific film with your brother. I'm looking forward to their DVD commentaries.

jesus the mexican boi wrote:I think it must be highly rewarding, box office aside, to know you've made a terrific film with your brother. I'm looking forward to their DVD commentaries.

Unfortunately, only Affleck the Elder has a commentary on the DVD.

As I've noted elsewhere on these pages, I've wearied of all the trendy, dark and serious pictures we've been getting lately, each one more heavily laden down with its own self-importance than the last. Because of that I was especially impressed with this film, which I only just watched today. God knows it's dark and serious as well but what sets it apart, for me at least, is the fact that the hand wringing sensibility feels earned. It isn't, in other words, just a hip or pseudo-sophisticated affectation or an end unto itself. I agree with the general sentiment that what makes the film work is Affleck's willingness to play it all as low key as possible. That tone and what emerges from it complements the genuine moral seriousness of the piece.

I also preferred it by much to Mystic River, which had little impact on me despite the fact (or likely because of the fact) that it was trying so hard to do just that. I was surprised that Affleck's picture would be the one to come across as the more assured work, especially as I usually love Eastwood. Whatever the case, Gone Baby Gone had tremendous impact on me and the predicament it builds toward feels, once again, like one that's been very well earned. Having said that, I agree that the flashback stuff seems a little shaky on a first pass though I could also make the argument (and would be willing to since everything else is so well handled) that perhaps Affleck was trying for something poetic here. What we see after all is essentially privileged information, meaning that the Patrick Kenzie character would not have had access to it to reflect on it. On one level I think it's an attempt to suggest the rather obvious idea (also touched on for different effect in The Illusionist) that it's Kenzie creating these flashback moments himself, that it's indicative of his mental process. But I actually read them as being designed more to illustrate a process of revelation, rather than determination. This may seem like hair splitting but it's an important distinction in a film as finely tuned as this one and it goes to support the depiction of Kenzie as someone who is graced by knowledge and understanding, sometimes beneficently and at other times less so.

I'll add to the chorus of praise for Casey Affleck's performance, too. He really is shaping up to be a fine performer who I look forward to seeing. Amy Ryan gets the flashier part but his work is just as accomplished, evoking a not-so-innocent who is blighted nonetheless. I really like and gravitate toward the fragility of this and his other notable performances. I can't think of anyone else whose screen presence is so marked by the effects of insecurity and the flailing against a kind of incipient weakness or impotence. Colin Farrell has something similar but his version of it is shot through with a more thorough going ferocious quality, a less trepidatious sensitivity. In other words, he'd be a perfect actor for James Gray.

And, yes, that final shot is really impressive, really superbly composed and considered. While I'd be the first to acknowledge the clear contributions of John Toll I want to give Affleck a lot of credit for going with this image at the end, for understanding that it was more than sufficient, that it carries within it the inherent sorrow of the whole piece. If ever there was a sign of directorial confidence, wisdom and promise it is in that shot.