So I finally watched Gone Baby Gone. A decent film but, for me, too lacking in that something "extra"...some specialness required to push it from crime film into the realm of engaging human drama. There were a lot of questionable directorial choices made and needlessly confusing editing. Strangely, even when the film is trying to hold your hand with voiceover recalls of things you've just barely heard, it doesn't always make a lot of sense. But let's talk about the Brothers Affleck for a moment. After Baby and especially The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford you have to recognize (if you haven't already --and why haven't you?) that Casey Affleck is bonafide... a true actor. That scene that you've already seen in the trailer (even if you haven't seen the picture) you know the one where he says "...and I know a lot of people". I love that. How can you be so menacing when you weigh 98 lbs and you look like you're about to doze off? Casey the Sleeping Menace. There's a whole lot of heavy lidded angst going on with that one (even moreso in Jesse James). I think he's a fine actor but I don't think he should ever co-star with Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire. That'd be way too much somnabulistic angst. Narcolepsy: The Movie!
Ben Affleck is a generous guy. He's a better actor than he's gotten credit for (though I suppose the universe got balance there by making him a bigger movie star than he had any right to be) and he's also just giving giving giving to others. Matt Damon gets eternal love and support. Ben gifted his career to Jennifer Lopez (not really her fault that she had no real use for it) in what is now ancient history. Presently he allows the actors to rule Gone Baby Gone even when he should probably take more charge. And now, when he's been down and out, he gives us his little brother as his lead player... Here, take this younger more talented version of me. Nice guy to a fault, huh?
I know the reviews were rapturous for him as a director but I'm chalking that up to one of those weird groupthink things that happen when celebrities
Ben Affleck is a generous guy. He's a better actor than he's gotten credit for (though I suppose the universe got balance there by making him a bigger movie star than he had any right to be) and he's also just giving giving giving to others. Matt Damon gets eternal love and support. Ben gifted his career to Jennifer Lopez (not really her fault that she had no real use for it) in what is now ancient history. Presently he allows the actors to rule Gone Baby Gone even when he should probably take more charge. And now, when he's been down and out, he gives us his little brother as his lead player... Here, take this younger more talented version of me. Nice guy to a fault, huh?
I know the reviews were rapturous for him as a director but I'm chalking that up to one of those weird groupthink things that happen when celebrities a) defy expectations
b) earn our sympathy or
c) deserve second chances...
all three of which unarguably apply to Ben Affleck, whether or not one thinks of Gone Baby Gone as a mediocre effort or a great one. I do hope he makes another picture though. I assume it'll be much stronger. Look at the superman-style leap that George Clooney made from messy indulgent first film (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) to controlled terrific sophomore effort (Good Night, and Good Luck).
