Zchill in his natural habitat; animation.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Second Impressions: Gone Baby Gone

Although I loved the movie, I had not seen Gone Baby Gone since I saw it in the one-screen theater at Osan Air Base. My reason for not watching it again is it's a really tough watch. I can't recommend it if movies are merely escapist fantasies, as this movie showcases some of the worst that humans are capable of. If you can get past the subject matter it really is a good movie. It makes you think. It raises questions that are hard to answer. This is not a disposable movie.

What I liked: Ben Affleck can direct! Appropriate since he has another Boston based movie on the horizon; The Town. I've been disappointed before when getting my hopes up so hopefully he won't have a sophomore slump. The music was appropriately somber and really helped drive the emotional arch of the story. The acting was top notch with everyone bringing their A-game to the table, especially Casey Affleck, and Amy Ryan. The thing that really grabbed me was the dialogue (oh yeah, profanities all over this movie). It could be just the way the book was written, but the screenplay did have Ben Affleck as an author (like Good Will Hunting). I may have to go and pick up the book.

What I didn't like: It's hard to nitpick when you really like a movie. I didn't like a lot of the content of the story -- I mean who likes to see kids being neglected? A lot of the choices the characters made bugged me; again, this is just nitpicking, as it fit the characters. This is a really solid movie.

See this if you skipped Mystic River just because it had Sean Penn in it (he is annoying as hell, but a great actor). They are both based on books by the same author and set in Boston so if you didn't want to sit through a Sean Penn movie, watch this instead. (I liked both of them). I need to review a bad movie some time to really show how this site is supposed to work...

"Haven't I seen this guy before?"

Casey Affleck: Ocean's 11-13, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Take a cue from the title, it's a looooong movie. Well photographed though)

Amy Ryan: Changeling(another hard to watch movie!), "The Office" Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

Michelle Monaghan: In one of my favorites; Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and in The Bourne Supremacy (I remember her pronouncing a word wrong so I guess she didn't get asked back for the sequel)

Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman: Make any movie they are in great (if it's good material, or watchable) my point is these are great actors.

Special shout out for Titus "The Man in Black" from Lost Welliver for sporting a wicked handlebar mustache, truly an inspiration to us all.

This movie blog was actually a request. I do take them, except from Greg, who is now banned from my site for his previous comment.

2 comments:

  1. So, tiny bit off topic but, I thought that Changling was a good role for Jole, because she wasn't how she normally is, which is eye candy, also, she looked better thin in my eyes. That is all.

    I have wanted to see this, but with a solid recommendation I'll make sure to swing back and check it out.

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  2. I did like Gone Baby Gone. Now to get off subject as I do so often - I read the book that The Town is based off of. It was a really good fast paced book and I am hoping that Affleck will do a good job with it!

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