Gone Baby Gone

Most outstanding movies out there will have multiple themes or lessons that you can take from it. The purpose of most movies are to tell a story, but also give a meaning that can relate to the viewer, which is what makes viewers connect to movies so well. Gone Baby Gone’s theme can be described in one sentence: There’s a fine line between what is right and what is wrong. I think we can all agree that movies are a little unrealistic when it comes to what happens in life; which is perfectly fine, because we wouldn’t have the urge to watch movies if all of these things in movies actually happened to us in real life. Movies exaggerate aspects of life to make them more exciting. Gone Baby Gone is not one of these movies. The story begins when a little girl goes missing in Boston and two private detectives are hired by a family member to try to find her. The story then starts to unwind into the “underground” of Boston and the detectives start to find things that make everything complicated with secrets being revealed and what really happened to the young girl. At this point, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “This is just another detective movie where they solve the case at the end.” Just like all superhero movies, you know the superhero wins in the end because that’s just the way it goes. But for Gone Baby Gone, this is not the case.

I like to think that this is the best ending to a movie to stir up a debate. And don’t even talk about Inception, because there is no debate there. If you paid attention to the movie you would know what the truth is. Gone Baby Gone leaves you to decide whether the main character (Casey Affleck, who is incredible) actually wins or loses in the end. I don’t want to give away any information about it to spoil it for you, because this movie really is incredible and deserves to be seen, so you can decide for yourself. Ben Affleck directs this movie close to perfection and his brother Casey, along with Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Titus Welliver, and Ed Harris are just an incredible cast that each brings something to stir up the story. after watching this movie several times, I’m still not sure what side I belong with, because your morals are in conflict with what you feel should be deserved. There is a scene where Affleck storms a house and finds a man that just recently molested and killed a young boy. The man pleads to Affleck that he was sorry, but Affleck just turns on the spot and puts a bullet in the back of the man’s head. After the police come and clean the scene up, Affleck has a conversation with a fellow detective (Harris) and wishes he wouldn’t have killed the man saying “Murder’s a sin and Harris gives the quote, “Depends on who you do it to.” Right there, those seven words, define the entire movie. It’s a little scary thinking about all of it and putting things like this into perspective, because these are the very same discussions that are going on today.

Gone Baby Gone will have your feelings racing at the beginning, your mind racing at the end, and your heart racing throughout some very serious scenes in between. This is a movie you need to actually sit there and watch it and pay attention to what it is telling you. The scene with Affleck in the house with the child molester is one for the ages. The way Affleck(director) shares the fear of the character is very shocking, and you’ll find yourself hiding behind a pillow the first time you watch it. This movie won’t fall in the category of one of your favorite movies, but should be on your list of best movies you have seen. Just as you pick a side towards the end of the movie, the very last lines will either have you thinking twice about where you stand or cement it in place. All I have left to say is watch the movie. You will not regret it.

If you have seen it, I would love to get some feedback on where you stand. As always, if you liked this post, please share it, and feel free to follow my blog at the bottom of the page.