The Affleck brothers are hitting the box office in Gone Baby Gone. Written and directed by Ben Affleck and starring brother Casey Affleck. Gone Baby Gone is a film, based off of a novel, surrounding the kidnapping of a little girl. Amanda McCready (Madeline O’Brien) goes missing from her mother’s home. After the police have been searching for seventy-two hours with no luck, the family contacts a private investigator to help in the search. Patrick Kenzie (Casey) is put on the search for the little girl. Questioning the mother does not go smoothly, but eventually they get information needed from her and believe they are getting close to finding out who may have little Amanda.

Making contact with the suspected kidnapper does not go smoothly. Once money is offered to the criminals, a switch is set up to get Amanda back. Patrick informs the police about the meeting and they are on hand in case there is any trouble. Not everything turns out as expected when the switch is being made and gun shots are fired. When the smoke clears you find yourself still asking, where is Amanda? Then this film takes an unexpected turn that causes you to struggle with the question of, what is best for the child?

Ben Affleck really surprised me with this one. Not only was the writing superb, but the directing was even better. The film tugged at your emotions and has you asking yourself what you would do and not many films can do that. Casey Affleck offered an Oscar winning performance, as did Morgan Freeman as Jack Doyle. Ed Harris portrayed Detective Remy Bressant, and his performance was unlike anything I have ever seen him in before and proved his versatility. All emotions expressed were crossed over and affected the viewing audience. Gone Baby Gone is a true masterpiece and will not be gone anytime soon. This is a film you will be hearing about for awhile.

Review By: Jolene Mendez