Gone Baby Gone

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: October 19th, 2007 (limited)

Starring: Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Michelle Monaghan, Amy Madigan, John Ashton, Robert Wahlberg 

Directed by: Ben Affleck 

Premise: Two Boston private-eyes risk everything to investigate a missing child in a territory of broken families, bitter cops and whacked out ex-cons.

[MacGuffin]

Affleck's Baby Bumped by Real-Life Drama

Ripped from the headlines plots are all well and good for Law & Order, but not so much for a Ben Affleck movie.

The U.K. premiere of Gone Baby Gone, Affleck's feature directing debut, has been delayed due to similarities between the story and the real-life disappearance of Madeline McCann, who vanished on a family vacation to Portugal in May.

Gone Baby Gone centers on the search for a kidnapped four-year-old girl in Boston. Not only does Madeline O'Brien, the actress who portrays the girl, share a first name with Madeline McCann, she's also said to bear a strong resemblance to the missing child.

The film, which stars Affleck's younger brother, Casey Affleck, was scheduled to debut at the London Film Festival next month and to open wide in November, but the release has now been postponed indefinitely.

"We have been closely following the case and have decided to delay the release of the film in the U.K.," said a spokeswoman for Buena Vista International U.K.

Earlier this week at the Deauville Film Festival, Affleck said the film would not be released if the situation was judged to be inappropriate.

"All the people involved in the film have much greater concern for Madeleine McCann than we do for the release of our project," he said.

"The movie will not be released if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."

"The movie is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death," he added.

The film's North American release is scheduled for Oct. 19.

Madeline McCann was reported missing May 3, after she disappeared from her Praia da Luz hotel bedroom where she had been left unattended while her parents dined at a nearby restaurant.

The McCann parents have recently been named as prime suspects in the case by Portuguese police, and could reportedly be charged with their daughter's "accidental killing" at any time, though no body has been found.

[ElPandaRoyal]

How are these news about Madeline McCann being covered around the world? I'm portuguese and I really am sick and tired of hearing about this. I mean, I wish they could find the girl safe and everything end up well, but this is becoming such a media spectacle (now with reporters trying to cover the angle that her parents killed her) around here that I can't even react emotionally to the tragedy itself.

As for the movie, I read an interview with Matt Damon this month where he says this movie is quite amazing. Sure, they are friends, but I actually believe Ben Affleck can be a very interesting filmmaker. At least the guy seems alright when he's not drunk or looking at every chick's ass... or both.

[Pubrick]

i don't know about america, i think they're busy with OJ right now.

we're getting news of it every day but we're not saturated with it like you must be. it was actually really amazing to me that a lot of freaks at uni had no idea who this girl was. fucking idiots really, ok so you don't hav to watch the news every day, but when i make an inappropriate joke about a current event i expect ppl to react accordingly!

i tell ya, some ppl even when they're bombarded with news, still manage to stay completely ignorant. i am reminded every day why it's NOT that ridiculous to still see notes at the end of 9/11 articles saying "on september 11, 2001 the WTC was attacked by two planes."

[ElPandaRoyal]

"on september 11, 2001 the WTC was attacked by two planes."

Did the planes have handguns?

[john]

Quite possibly the only film...

ever...

that thanks both Kevin Smith...

and Terrence Malick...

in the end credits.

Other than that, a very watchable film, at least on first viewing. Not sure how it would hold up the second time around. Anchored heavily by a couple terrific performances, specifically from Ed Harris and Casey Affleck.

Not to disregard Ben Affleck. He really seems interested, as a director, in catching intimate, natural moments of people and neighborhoods. Also, like most actors turned directors do, he gives the actors space to do what their best at. Long takes, and performances that get to breathe a bit.

If it fails in anything, it's that following Mystic River, it seems that Dennis Lahane's novels tread the same territory over and over without  saying anything they didn't say the first time around. Though, this might just be speculative, based on the two adaptations of his novels that I've seen.

Still, the first hour is tremendously compelling. Quite a surprise.

[Gamblour.]

I FINALLY got to see this. Thank god some suburban theater still mysteriously had it. It took about 40 minutes to get out there, and there were so many fucking old people in the audience, they were too deaf to notice one of their fellow octogenarians' shoes was making this ridiculous clicking noise. And when the line "go suck a niggers' cock" was uttered, the shock was in their gasps was slightly refreshing.

Still, the first hour is tremendously compelling. Quite a surprise.

Yeah, I agree with this. The first hour is really beyond the book (which I haven't/don't need to read) in terms of fully becoming a film. The second half feels like an adaptation, with each plot point getting mildly built up with a bit of mystery then hammered down.

Again, Casey Affleck has quickly become one of my favorite actors this year, between this and Jesse James. Ed Harris' performance is actually one of my favorites of his, I really appreciated his talent here. Ben did good.

[MacGuffin]

I was quite impressed with Ben's directorial debut. A very tense thriller. He pulled off the grittiness of the story and the city. I'll go along with the above comments about the second hour taking a turn, but it was still compelling. My main gripe was with Monaghan's acting and character; seemed too 'girlie' and soft for a tough, run-with-the-guys woman.

[grand theft sparrow]

It's really a shame that Ben Affleck did Gigli and had to go into rehab right around the same time.  Because that's the only reason I can think of that got everyone thinking he's an idiot.  I guess everyone thought that Matt did all the work on the Good Will Hunting script and that Ben was left to type it up for him.  I bring this up because, from some of the reviews I've read, critics seemed to be flat-out shocked that his first film wasn't a Michael Bay bombastic turd.  He made a damn good movie and I'll be looking forward to his next film.

I agree with Mac about Michelle Monaghan's character being underwritten and miscast.  I also have to imagine that her character was more important in the book because, with the exception of giving Casey Affleck's character personal consequences for his choice at the end, she served no purpose in the movie and could have easily been cut. Other than that, it was a pretty solid thriller.

[squints]

i really dug this. I loved seein' Omar from The Wire in a movie even though his role was pretty small.

[last days of gerry the elephant]

It was ok, kinda expected all the twists and turns at the end which degraded it for me. A little far fetched in a sense I suppose.

[Xx]

...

[SiliasRuby]

A very sad film filled with longing and desperation. Amy ryan, completely loses herself in her addict role. Ben's direction is a step above average and more than competant. Another film that has performances tht seemed like they came out of the air and shot onto the screen. Casey is becoming more and more of a leading man ever time I see him on screen and its really present here. I read the book and it was up to par with the film in many many way. A solid rental.