Synopsis
Based on the Dennis Lehane novel about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping, which ultimately turns into a crisis both professionally and personally.
My Take
Every so often a film will speak to you. More often than not it's books that do the talking; but occasionally, for whatever purpose a movie will jut itself, wedge itself, inside your mind and stay there. A place where no book can go, or if it does, by fluke. A film does this by offering to you, the viewer, with a difficult question, one that both you and the protagonist must answer – and how you answer it transcends far beyond the plush theater chairs and concession stands of the cinema. It's not something you can shake off like a snazzy scene, or a natty one-liner. It's a question, a thought-tearing numbness, that stalks you minutes, hours, days after the screen fades to black and the credits roll in. And you keep thinking, and thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Maybe for you, it's happened once or twice; some really good flick you saw a while back touched you in a way you've never been branded before. For films like these you normally peg something like 'the best movie you've ever seen' along with the brand. For someone like myself, someone who watches movies "for a living" and catalogs them, reviews them, saying something like "best movie" and "ever" in the same sentence is a phrase used few and far between. You hardly use them unless you mean it; use it more often than not, and you lack the credibility the words hold. But when that something happens, you know you toy with the words again, it begs to question, "Are you for real about this one?" And you think, and by golly, you've nailed it. You're sure. Gone Baby Gone is a movie title you will hear me speak for many times to come, as is it the most thought-provoking movie I have seen, and undoubtedly my personal favorite.
Gone Baby Gone tells the story of young (in age only) missing persons private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro who get summoned to aid the investigation of the kidnapping/disappearance of 4 year-old Amanda McCready, not but the child's mother but by her aunt. Eventually the stakes become high as they attempt to find out answers risking their lives, relationship, and their sanity in discovering the truth behind her disappearance. As the movie's tagline goes, "Everyone Wants The Truth... Until They Find It." Nothing is what it seems on the surface, and the duo fight to get the story straight after torrent after torrent of hard, bitter, and twisted truth rams them farther into a hole then anyone ever thought possible.
Gone Baby Gone works as both a thriller and a drama. A thriller to counter the violence and thrilling scenes that involve gun fire exchanges and sudden, radical changes of tempo that will shock all viewers alike. A drama as in the steady stream of story that emulates the fostering of the given scene. It counteracts the story through several points of view (though never wandering off Patrick's), several points in time, and never truly gives a rest. And of course the big questions Gone Baby Gone pitches at you. Questions, as in two of them. The first question posed is of the justice of killing; Is it right to kill a criminal, or have the police deal with him first? If the criminal has surrendered, is it 'good' to follow through with his death in your hands? Is it 'right', or 'fair? SPOILER WARNING!!! After Patrick confronts a mentally retarded child molester (wherein the victim laid dead ten feet away, so it was obvious he was indeed the criminal), he points his gun at him at point blank in the head and fires. He is ultimately celebrated as a hero for his deed. Questioned later about the incident, however, Patrick admits if he had the choice to do it again he wouldn't- saying regardless of how much he 'deserved' it he still shouldn't of done it. This despite the thoughts from Detective Bressant and Angela, who both stress that a person who molests a child 'forfeits his right to live'. I tend to agree with this; especially just months after I gave a speech on child molesters and the death of Jessica Lundsford. Am I disappointed with the way Patrick had regrets? No, oddly enough he had grounds in what he did, and how he handled it. Either side of the fence you're on for this issue it will make you rethink what you believe. SPOILER OVER
If that isn't enough to tackle, Gone Baby Gone hits you with another tear-jerking, gut-wrenching curveball at the movie's end. I won't give this away, as it will most certainly upset the movie, but I will tell you this; Patrick is faced with a tough choice. One that he does not make easily, as everything is on the line. He chooses between two ultimate realities, ultimate truths- wondering aloud if the absolute truth of the situation still matters. Does truth coincide with reality? If something is wrong, but it benefits both parties, is it still wrong? If it brings about good, does the 'sin' behind it disappear? The scene that plays out his choice for this ultimate question gives you plenty of time to mull over the, what would you do? In every way this movie is an interactive experience into existentialism. What would you do literally is pasted to all the walls of the skanky and deprived buildings of the city, begging you to answer the question, to respond to the movie's depth. You can't just walk into the theater, watch this, and walk away without a second-thought. It won't let you. It 'brands', if you will, its questions and your answers to your mind.
Gone Baby Gone will likely offend many people. I want to put that on the table, especially as a Christian movie critic. It has two major hit points: grotesque violence and extreme language. Gun shot wounds, blood, and gore mar many scenes, and an extremely disturbing scene involving a dead child will more than likely stop your heart and grip you in silence (and/or anger). There are, as of several counts, roughly 120 "F" words, and several other severe sexual remarks (in addition to several other curse words). The language was tough to handle at times, but given the situation and culture of the persons using it I can see how it fits into the movie. I do not condone the language in any way, shape, or form. I am merely suggesting that it "made sense" so to speak of its usage. They weren't just using it, to use it. Given the adult situations, thematic elements, overall storyline (as well as the two points mentioned above) it is safe to say this is a 'heavy' film on all fronts. There is, however, no nudity or sex.
(Paragraph added day after originally written) Something else stirs my mind that I have to mention. Going to a church in the middle of a poor section of Sanford gives me a small idea of the family situation Amanda (the missing girl) was growing up in. Her mother is a crack whore and a narcotic drug mule. She is dating an abusive male who is also an underground drug dealer. On several occasions throughout the movie it is mentioned that is appears, through her mother's actions, that Amanda is not properly loved nor taken care of by her mother. Through my church I have seen many different children coming from all sorts of backgrounds and famil situations; even those who it appears aren't being properly taken care of by their parents. And I love them still. But a question arises that attempts to ask what would be better for the child, being raised by her mother, or someone else who is more fit for the position? Who defines who is "fit" to take care of her? Is it someone's decision (like social services, or another relative) to make that call? What is truly best for a child? If the mother made an effort to change (which according to Angela in the movie, "People don't change...") and set her course to right, and attemptd to adjust her life; would it be ok then? Gone Baby Gone attempts to answer in its own right, with several different cause and effect sereums.
Still gripping at my heart are the two sobering questions Gone Baby Gone challenges you with. The film, no matter how 'materialistic' or 'commercialized' it may appear, has undoubtedly left an impression on me. Several days from now, the thoughts and attitudes the movie gave off will still be laboring in my head over for answer. An answer I thought was ready-made, but was forced to second guess, re-assess and compute out a 'final' answer so to speak. Given Gone Baby Gone's excellent story, acting, plot twists, and moral dilemma's (and answers) it has earned the privilege of being 'tagged' my favorite movie. With all of the offenses taken into check, I also challenge you to check this movie out and answer yourself the questions this film asks (and would be more than happy to discuss it with you). A job well done, and a thought well provoked.
Until the next film,
Zachary Anderson
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