If all he really wants to do is direct, that might be a very good thing for movie star Ben Affleck.
He was the one-time marquee draw for pandering Hollywood kitsch — see (or, rather, don’t see) “Armageddon,” “The Sum of All Fears,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Daredevil,” etc. But he has miraculously jerked from inconsistent acting profiteer to discerning filmmaker in his first turn behind the lens for the absorbing, authentically grimy mystery drama “Gone Baby Gone.”
Ben has wisely chosen to stay behind the scenes and cast his very talented younger brother Casey Affleck to take the on-screen lead for his modest pet project. And even more astutely, he has returned to his familiar hometown milieu of working-class outer Boston, where “Good Will Hunting” (the breakout film that won him a screenwriting Oscar with pal Matt Damon) was also set.
Today’s piece is unglamorous and downbeat, as a case about a missing 4-year-old girl would be or at least should be. As co-scriptor as well as director, Ben has adapted the intriguingly twisty story from a novel by Dennis Lehane, the author behind the similarly unsettling “Mystic River.” “Gone Baby Gone” is not as polished a work as Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece adaptation, but it too claims intricate characters, a very specific sense of place and an original plot.
Casey’s protagonist, Patrick Kenzie, and his lover and professional partner, Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan), are two-bit private investigators with one important asset: They are well-connected to their close-mouthed Dorchester neighbors. Patrick is also street smart. So when the aunt (Amy Madigan) and uncle (Titus Welliver) of the missing child hire them to help in the search, he knows just where to start digging. Police Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) and his roughneck Detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) aren’t thrilled with the intrusion. But Patrick and Angie soon turn up important connections between the child’s barfly mother Helene (Amy Ryan) and her lowlife world where druggies, pedophiles and even killers thrive.
When the crime whodunit finally starts to clarify, the narrative takes an unexpected turn into ethical dilemma. This helps “Gone Baby Gone” surpass mere genre territory. Likewise, performances by both the knownand unknown members of the ensemble are a cut above. You can actually see the wheels turn through Casey Affleck’s eyes when he is thinking. Amy Ryan blew me away with her bravery and buried vulnerability as the irresponsible mother.
You believe that these people really live in this ugly ’hood — and that such a place really exists. And that’s a tribute to Ben Affleck’s taste and choices. Apparently, in his case, a star wasn’t born. But a director was.
‘Gone Baby Gone’
****
Starring: Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman
Director: Ben Affleck
Rated R for violence, drug content and pervasive language
Running time: 114 minutes
