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Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray] [2007]
![Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray] [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dlNmHE6HL._SL160_.jpg)
RRP: £23.99
Our Price: £14.99 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk
For his initial offering as director, Ben Affleck returns to the site of his first Oscar: South Boston (he and Matt Damon shared the award for Good Will Hunting). Hot on the heels of his moving turn in Hollywoodland, Affleck's Dennis Lehane adaptation marks one of the more seamless actor-to-filmmaker transitions in recent years. Ostensibly, a procedural about the search for a missing child, class and corruption emerge as his primary concerns. First off, there's low-rent private eye Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck, equally adept in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Then there's the girl's drug mule mother, Helene (Amy Ryan, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead). She and Patrick grew up in Dorchester, but he took a different path, setting up an agency with his girlfriend, Angie (Michelle Monaghan). Helene's aunt, Bea (Amy Madigan), hires the duo to augment the investigation, and they team up with Captain Doyle (Morgan Freeman) and Detective Bressant (Madigan's husband, Ed Harris). The authorities don't appreciate the interference, but Patrick knows how to get the local populace talking, and he soon finds there's more to the story than anyone could possibly imagine. Hard-hitting, but never soft-headed, the evocative end result proves Affleck has a flair for this directing thing and that his little brother can carry a major motion picture with aplomb. Gone Baby Gone belongs on the list of great Boston crime dramas, along with The Departed and Mystic River, Clint Eastwood’s take on Lehane. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
A hidden gem
Review date: 2008-10-31 Rating: 10 out of 10
Given no publicity and not shown in cinemas in the UK due to events at the time of release Gone Baby Gone passed by under the carpet.
It is a hidden gem that really shouldn't be missed. If you are a member of the 'yuck, it's Ben Affleck' bandwagon please, don't be put off. If this is anything to go by and he is hanging up the acting, we should have some great stuff in the future - maybe another Good Will Hunting?
Without giving too much away about halfway through there's a major left turn in the way the film is going and it's followed up with a series of them until the end. The only odd thing I found is Michelle Monaghan, I'm not sure that her charactor really needs to be here. Adds a bit of balance I suppose?
For those interested, the HD transfer isn't fantastic to be honest so if you haven't gone exclusively Blu you can happily stick to upscaled DVD.
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Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Casey Affleck
Ed Harris
Morgan Freeman
Michelle Monaghan
Amy Ryan
Creators:
Casey Affleck (Primary Contributor)
Michelle Monaghan (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 8717418167769
Binding: Blu-ray
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-09-22
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 109 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007