Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Superb in every respect
This film was a real treat, with at least three extra phases of complexity and mystery beyond where I expected to end.

More to the point, it held my 13-year-old's attention completely, to the point of pausing it when he wanted to go to the bathroom or get ice cream or whatever. [Note: lots of four letter words in the first half of the movie, this can freak out the super-strict, but if you believe in helping kids understand reality beyond their sterile little world in the suberbs, I personally believe this movie is outstanding on multiple levels and for multiple purposes.

Others have reviewed the details--for me, it's enough to justify the five star rating (beyond the obvious merit of the proven actors and actresses) by simply saying, any film that can hold my 55-year-old *very* demanding attention, and my 13-year-old's rapt attention (with discussion afterwards of ethical dilemmas, moral judgements, and when right is not right and wrong is not wrong, is simply a WOW.

Stylish Abduction Mystery -- See Baby, See
This movie is a mixed bag for me -- hence the three-star rating. Specifically ...

Pro's

* Strong cast that includes heavyweights like Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and Amy Madigan
* Powerful cinematography portraying the grittiness of Dorchester and the human "characters" who populate this working class world

Con's

* Casey Affleck and his hot girlfriend (Monaghan) seem just too pretty and callow for us to believe they possess the "street cred" that we're supposed to think they have
* The plot has more twists than an origami sculpture and can be a bit demanding on and confusing to viewers to take it all in in real time and follow what's going on

Interesting! A close call between a three- or fourt-star rating.

A Word of Warning . . .
If you think "doing the right thing" is more important than the welfare of a precious, four-year-old little girl, you will probably love this movie. Aside from the fact that I had to turn on the subtitles because I couldn't understand half of what the Casey Affleck charactor was mumbling about, the movie was well-made and very well-acted. In this respect I would give it 4 stars. But I am giving it 1 star because of the way I felt after watching it. Most of my friends thought this was a great movie. I would even tend to agree. I just hated the ending.