| | | Hope Begins Where the Secrets End.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Spanish, French, Dubbed & Subtitled
Based on the novel by Mystic River author Dennis Lehane, Gone Baby Gone marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Afflecks brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective, Gone Baby Gone centers on the disappearance of a young girl in the working class neighborhood of Dorchester in South Boston. With plenty of twists and turns, the movie works as a solid crime thriller, but its as a study of a place--and ones ability to either accept and embrace or ultimately break free from it--that the film flowers.
"There is a compelling ethical question raised skillfully that will haunt viewers. The poignant conclusion probably will incite debate." Claudia Puig, USA Today
"...full of dark secrets, and how they unravel will keep you glued." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...quietly accumulates in power, leading to one of the more subtly devastating final shots in recent memory." Scott Tobias, The Onion A.V. Club
"...a fine debut, far more grounded, plausible and engrossing than most Hollywood thrillers." Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian
"Four stars. One of the best pictures of the year." Steve Oldfield, Fox
Editor's Note
Based on the novel by MYSTIC RIVER author Dennis Lehane, GONE BABY GONE marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Affleck's brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective, GONE BABY GONE centers on the disappearance of a young girl in the working class neighborhood of Dorchester in South Boston. With plenty of twists and turns, the movie works as a solid crime thriller, but it's as a study of a place--and one's ability to either accept and embrace or ultimately break free from it--that the film flowers.Beneath the movie's street-tough justice and cop shop politics sits a very complicated view of the world, which Affleck delves into unflinchingly, thanks in large part to his ability to extract some excellent performances from his cast. Casey Affleck offers a nice mix of both steely resolve and vulnerability, while Harris presents a strong performance as a conflicted, emotionally tortured cop. Of particular note is Amy Ryan as the mother of the abducted girl. Her character's outrageous foul-mouthed demeanor ultimately ends up feeling both tragic and pathetic, with the only appropriate reactions being either pity or rage. It makes for an uncomfortable but affecting dichotomy. GONE BABY GONE signifies a confident and impressive turn behind the camera for one of Hollywood's more contentious stars. A Boston native himself, Affleck takes great care in evoking his city's entirety, from its undeniably ugly underbelly, to what feels like an almost primordial sense of community. It speaks to Affleck's substance as a director, and of good things to come.
| Features | Audio Commentary By Writer/Director Ben Affleck & Writer Aaron Stockard | | Audio: English, French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Deleted Scenes With Optional Audio Commentary By Writer/Director Ben Affleck & Writer Aaron Stockard | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Eye-Opening Extended Ending | | Featurettes: Going Home - Behind The Scenes With Ben Affleck, & Capturing Authenticity - Casting Gone Baby Gone | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: French, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | Gone Baby Gone - DVD Review By: Sean O'Connell - filmcritic.com DVD Reviews Published on: 2/1/2008 8:25 PM | |
Numerous articles have been written over the years criticizing Ben Affleck's poor choices pertaining to his acting career. Google Gigli if you care to sample some slams. But Affleck's Gone, Baby, Gone should temporarily reverse the negative flow of copy for it finds the first-time filmmaker making a number of intelligent decision from the director's hot seat. His best decision comes early. By adapting novelist Dennis Lehane's Boston-based thriller, Affleck commits to material that fits him like a glove. Affleck adores his hometown -- warts and all -- and Gone becomes as much an ode to the city as Lehane intended. The Gone plot details a bleak search for a kidnapped child....read the full review |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 8/15/2008 |
| Running Time: 114 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2007 | | Catalog ID: 5373803 | | UPC: 00786936727487 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Nominee (2008) | | | Golden Globe, Amy Ryan, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture |
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| | Professional Reviews | Film Comment
"The film is effective throughout, and in its last shot it rigorously encapsulates a moral situation whose resonating implications justify everything that has gone before." 09/01/2007 p.68Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Affleck's first time at bat as a filmmaker is more than promising, it's strikingly assured....GONE BABY GONE is full of dark secrets, and how they unravel will keep you glued." 11/01/2007 p.92 Box Office
"Affleck steps behind the camera to direct a murder mystery that grapples intelligently with big questions." 11/01/2007 p.112 Entertainment Weekly
"Affleck the director shows excellent instincts, not least of which is letting his younger brother, Casey, hold the center..." -- Grade: B- 10/26/2007 p.50 New York Times
"Mr. Affleck is already deep into the character right from the start....One of the graces of GONE BABY GONE is its sensitivity to real struggle, to the lived-in spaces and worn-out consciences that can come when despair turns into nihilism." 10/19/2007 p.E8 Los Angeles Times
"[A] notable piece of work, a strong directing debut by actor Ben Affleck..." 10/19/2007 Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] superbly detailed, focused performances. GONE BABY GONE absorbs Morgan Freeman's fatherly persona, channels Ed Harris' powder-keg rage and finds Amy Ryan quite sensational..." 06/01/2008 p.46 Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "It's a major directorial debut from Affleck, successfully combining the elements of a smart, intriguing police procedural with a distinctive Bostonian flavour and the psychological sophistication and moral complexity that distinguish the very best mystery thrillers." 06/01/2008 42 Ultimate DVD
5 stars out of 5 -- "[N]ative Bostonian Affleck makes full use of the weather worn streets and people of his home town to give this powerful, intelligent and thought-provoking film an authentically gritty texture." 05/01/2008 p.86 Sight and Sound
"Ben Affleck maintains the downbeat mood effectively, drawing understated performances....Amy Ryan as the missing girl's mother turns in the most powerful performance." 06/01/2008 p.61-62 Reel.com 8 of 10
Actor, screenwriter, political activist, and celebrity spouse Ben Affleck can now add director to his resume, and if he's not yet a natural at it, the instincts he shows in his helming debut Gone Baby Gone are admirable. Affleck's writing skills, though, prove a bit more problematic as he (along with co-scribe Aaron Stockard) adapted Dennis Lehane's novel without finding an effective enough structure to maintain the crime drama's initial momentum. The film starts off powerfully, full of sharp dialogue, characters and settings; until halfway through when, for all intents and purposes, the story ends--and then must start up again...[Affleck] vividly captures the lived-in, workaday atmosphere of Boston's gritty Dorchester district. Adding to the authenticity, the director used local actors and actual townies to fill out the many neighborhood scenes, which proves especially effective during the ongoing TV news reports from little Amanda's tightly knit block. Kudos also go to the ensemble cast's consistently credible Boston accents--it's a speech pattern that often seems overdone or false on screen, and that includes Cambridge, Mass.-raised Ben Affleck's acting turn in Good Will Hunting. For director Affleck, though, a little distance seems to have gone a long way, baby. - Gary Goldstein
ReelViews 9 of 10
Gone Baby Gone is powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand. The best mystery novels are the ones that use the genre as a stepping-off point for developing characters and examining issues. First-time director Ben Affleck has successfully captured the essence of a written mystery on the screen. The production engages viewers not only on an emotional level but on an intellectual one. As the onion-like layers of the story are peeled away to reveal new ethical dilemmas that force the lead character to question what truly is "right," we are invited to answer those questions alongside him then evaluate whether the consequences of his choices justify the decisions he made. It's a rare motion picture that provides such an uncompromising perspective of what is right and what is moral...With his first feature, Affleck has made an indelible mark on the fall 2007 movie season. He may have taken audiences by surprise this time, but he will be watched in the future...It's not an easy film because it challenges us and, while the final scene offers closure, it does so with a side dish of painful ambiguity. Gone Baby Gone has a legitimate shot for placement on my end-of-the-year list of 2007's Top 10 films. - James Berardinelli
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