Gone baby gone
Abduction. It’s every parent’s nightmare, and probably more so now than at any time since Genghis Khan and his hordes were out raping, pillaging…and abducting. Though it’s debatable whether more children really are snatched nowadays, but you’d certainly think so from reading the papers. Madeleine, Holly and Jessica… The fear is palpable. Last week on the Today Programme a representative of the Children’s Legal Centre warned parents that they’d be breaking the law if they leave children under 16 unattended over the summer holidays. So, the movie Gone Baby Gone, which revolves around a child being snatched, is pretty topical. It was so hot last autumn that its British release was postponed until this summer because of the Madeleine case.
The four year old baby in question has already disappeared at the start of the movie. The girl’s aunt visits two private detectives Patrick Kenzie, played by Casey Affleck, and his girlfriend/business partner Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), to secure their services in helping track down the girl. These two know the Boston neighbourhood where the abduction has taken place like the back of their gumshoes’. It is the aunt who hires them because her sister-in-law is an ‘unfit mother’, which becomes crucial as the story develops. Patrick and Angie then set off on a very circuitous route to recover the girl. The plot’s twists and turns are so convoluted that at times I became a little lost. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I quite like the confusion of an intricately plotted movie.
The first thing that really stuck out for me in this movie is where it takes place. It’s not the naff Ransom, in which the millionaire Mel Gibson rescues his daughter from real bad baddies after a shootout. The film is set in the poorest part of Boston. A worn, thrift shop ambiance is filled with tired, working class Americans. There are some great faces in the film. Unlike so many US films filled with above average looking people, these lot are either below average or even nudging the ugly side. The stars, Affleck and his lovely partner stick out like sore thumbs.
It’s not just young Casey representing the Affleck family, the movie is directed and written by his elder brother, Ben. But this isn’t the goofy stoner or slick action flick you might expect from him. This twilit world is almost entirely devoid of hope. Not Hollywood. Light is short supply in this part of Boston. Scenes shot inside seem to be in near natural light, and windows trap the darkness rather than let the sun in. There’s one scene in a pub which I thought was taking place in the darkest of nights, only to find it’s broad daylight when the characters leave the place.
The characteristic Affleck cheekiness, however, is still in evidence. There are some laugh-out-loud moments. Patrick, the PI, has a very droll sense of humour and his familiarity with the neighbourhood and its habitues brings us into contact with some amusing and colourful personalities. Finally, after after all his sleuthing our hero is left with an moral dilemma just where we might expect a shoot out. Interesting.
Tags: ben affleck, casey affleck, child abduction, Gone baby gone