Gone Baby Gone

Just released on DVD is one of the most interesting and unsung films of 2007 – Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone. Originally a novel by Dennis Lehane – the author behind Clint Eastwood’s unreasonably grim Mystic River – it’s standard fare pulp fiction that’s elevated by thoughtful and nuanced direction and a full complement of spot-on performances.

Ben Affleck doesn’t stray far from his comfort zone in his directorial debut. Gone Baby Gone is set in the south side of Boston, where Affleck has home-field advantage. He also stacks the deck by casting his low-key younger brother as his lead. Casey Affleck stars as Patrick Kenzie. He’s a young private investigator from the south side of Boston, a neighborhood kid with connections to people on both sides of the law. He’s a quiet, unimposing figure who gets by tracking down deadbeats or people who’ve skipped town. When a media circus descends on the south side, flocking to the case of a missing four year old girl, it’s the missing girl’s aunt and uncle who beg Kenzie to get involved.

It turns out her mom isn’t going to win any “mother of the year” awards. She’s a neglectful narcissist, more interested in drinking than nurturing. Amy Ryan plays her to the hilt, disappearing completely into a white trash mom and she steals every scene she’s in. The rest of the cast doesn’t get to strut the same pyrotechnics, but everyone turns in superb work.  Ed Harris, wrestling with a stiff hairpiece and a Boston-by way of New Orleans accent is another standout.

Affleck isn’t a visual stylist as a director, but his love of the south side neighborhoods radiate through the film. There’s little nostalgia or sentimentality at work here, though, and Affleck has a clear eye for the local color.  His efficient and unfussy style works like a well-oiled machine, nicely mirroring McKenzie’s low-key profile.

His editor, William Goldenberg, moves the action along at a sharp-edged tempo. The opening montage quickly moves through the neighborhood into the heart of the media circus. Through the entire first hour, the filmmakers trust in the tempo of their film is palpable. Pay close attention to the rhythm of the editing. There are few extraneous details, or adjectival shots, but what’s there is effectively used. The sparing cutaways – to the Jerry Springer show, or a grizzled pair of barflies – snap to a perfect rhythm. All the details are just onscreen long enough to register, forcing nothing. That discipline pays off handsomely at the halfway mark, where a shootout climaxes in a gruesome image that’s more fearsome for being mostly unseen.

Unfortunately, the film starts to go off the rails afterwards. The tempo slows down – marking out a new rhythm that Gone Baby Gone can’t sustain. As the story turns from a detective story to a morality play, it slips a gear or two. Once he leaves the south side streets, Affleck wanders onto shakier ground. Kenzie stops chasing facts and starts chasing conspiracies, and the tactile sense that makes the first half of the film so riveting starts to slip. Still, the film has enough momentum from the first half to reach the finish line. After all the twists and turns are unravelled, it’s the knotted up tight performance of Amy Ryan that leaves the dubious questions the film asks floating in the air.