i first came across ben affleck's impressive directorial outing on region 1 dvd several months before it saw release in british theatres, due to the similiarities between the madeline mccann case and the one in the film. when attempting to 'sell' the concept of a ben affleck picture to my friends (most people still associating the guy with the whole ''bennifer'' circus) i used the notion that ''gone baby, gone'' felt like a big screen spin off of the television show ''the wire'', which i feel to be the greatest television show in the history of the medium. thats not to say that ''gone baby, gone" is as good a film as ''the wire'' is a television show, but the similiarities in tone and style are definately there. michael k. williams, ''the wire's'' 'omar' manages to make an appearance too.
on second viewing, some years after my initial one, the film held up greatly. casey affleck, ben's brother, shines in the role of a local private detective, employed by the family of a missing girl. while the ending of the film almost jarres with what has gone before, its not enough to distract from what is an all round great piece of film.
I saw this on a Region 1 DVD as I got fed up with the UK release date getting pushed further and further back. I thought it was an amazing piece of filmmaking with a great performance from Casey Affleck (I think he is an underrated actor and is better in smaller, lesser-known films than the big 'uns such as the Oceans films)and I think perhaps a lot of people have overlooked the film because of Ben Affleck's personal life
ReplyDelete"I think perhaps a lot of people have overlooked the film because of Ben Affleck's personal life"
ReplyDeletenever was a truer word spoken, its such a shame that people are so damn fickle.