Gone Baby Gone - Mar 2

I did promise that I would change things up didn't I? Here now is my first movie review. Yay! I LOVED Gone Baby Gone. I would warn you though, the subject matter is pretty dark. Not for the littles ones, that's for sure.


From left to right is Morgan Freeman as Boston police captain Jack Doyle, Casey Affleck as P.I. Patrick Kenzie and the very lovely Michelle Monaghan as Angie Gennero. Curiously, both Casey and Michelle have in common older celebrity siblings. Elder brother Ben Affleck directed GBG and casting his younger brother in the lead role was a stroke of genius. Rare for him but even a stopped clock is right twice a day! I also think Casey is a better actor than Ben. Michelle's face may look familiar to you as the kid sister of Bridget Monaghan (the mother of Patriots QB Tom Brady's love child). Man, there's some scary good genes in those families!

(Correction as of March 10/08: Michelle Monaghan and Bridget Moynihan are not sisters. My bad. Promise I'll do a better job of researching next time. Ben and Casey are still brothers though. At least I got that part right dammit!)

You may remember Good Will Hunting. It won an Oscar for both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for best screenplay. Like GWH, Gone Baby Gone is set in the city of Boston. Better to stick to a city you know then to try and be clever. Apparently their baseball team isn't that bad either!

I found it most curious that despite the darkness and despair, Gone Baby Gone uses a tonne of Christian imagery. It's abundantly obvious both Affleck brothers were exposed to the Catholic church at an early age. Early on in the movie, in a voice-over by Casey, he asks his priest how one can be saved yet still avoid the evil that surrounds us. The priest quotes from Matthew:

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

An interesting choice of scripture, one that shows great wisdom. Now I'm going to warn you that there's an amazing plot twist near the end. I won't tell you what it is or even give a hint (rent it yourself!). But the movie asks two basic moral questions:

1) Does the end justify the means?

2) What would you do if the truth was staring you right in the face? Would you deny it and walk away or would you act on it?

I'm a firm believer that the truth will set you free. However there are two harsh realities we face when revealing unpopular truths:

1) You WILL face opposition. Not just from your enemies, but from your family and friends.

2) There is a personal price to be paid.

So why do it? I mean nobody really wishes for adversity in their lives. Facing opposition and clamor is no picnic. But I think the decision to tell the truth is correct in the long term. Many take the easy way out and walk away from the truth. Yet their lives are burdened with guilt. In the end they still pay a steep personal price! What is the antidote to all this? The answer is simple:

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

Nobody has to go through life carrying their guilt around like it was some millstone! Redemption is always a prayer away. Ask for forgiveness today and Jesus will pardon your sins. Please do it today. I promise you on the authority of scripture He'll do it!

Johnny Cash