A little girl is kidnapped. The police swing into action, led by an officer who lost his own daughter a few years back. The girl's family hires a detective team of two to boost the search efforts. The police grudgingly accept the interloping investigators after they provide some vital clues (thanks to one of them growing up in the neighbourhood and cultivated some shady contacts during his earlier police career).
Sounds like a standard issue kidnapping/mystery thriller, emotional investment increased due to the little girl at the centre of it. Gone Baby Gone starts exactly like hundreds of films of the genre, improved significantly by the crackling dialogues and the fast buildup of events. As it hurtles towards a climax, twists and turns abound.
Still firmly in the same genre.
Where Gone Baby Gone breaks away is the final twist and the decision Casey Affleck takes at that point. Anything more I write here could spoil the ending and I will desist. I would urge everybody to watch the film - especially if you are a parent.
And come back to answer (in a simple yes or no) this question: If faced with a similar situation as Affleck, would you do the same?
Sounds like a standard issue kidnapping/mystery thriller, emotional investment increased due to the little girl at the centre of it. Gone Baby Gone starts exactly like hundreds of films of the genre, improved significantly by the crackling dialogues and the fast buildup of events. As it hurtles towards a climax, twists and turns abound.
Still firmly in the same genre.
Where Gone Baby Gone breaks away is the final twist and the decision Casey Affleck takes at that point. Anything more I write here could spoil the ending and I will desist. I would urge everybody to watch the film - especially if you are a parent.
And come back to answer (in a simple yes or no) this question: If faced with a similar situation as Affleck, would you do the same?
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