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THE MOVIE: Gone Baby Gone

THE STARS:
Casey Affleck • Michelle Monaghan • Ed Harris • Morgan Freeman • Amy Ryan
DIRECTOR: Ben Affleck

THE CONCEPT:
In Boston, 4-year-old Amanda McCready is kidnapped. Her Aunt and Uncle plead with local private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) and Angie Genarro (Monaghan) to take the case. They join forces with detective Remy Bressant (Harris) and police captain Jack Doyle (Freeman), but what they discover is an ever-intensifying web of lies and a shocking truth which will make the audience question what is right.

U.S. RELEASE: October 19 2007, Nationwide • Rated: R

THE COMMENTS:

BEN AFFLECK:
“Adapting the novel was extremely challenging for a number of reasons, chief among them was that simply on a basic plot level, it was extremely complicated just trying to get all the basic fundamental plot twists seeded enough that you buy the reveals that happen at the end.”

CASEY AFFLECK on being directed by his brother Ben:
“Should I slam him? [he laughs] It was real easy mostly because we spoke the same language, we were very comfortable saying to one another, ‘I think that’s a terrible idea,’ or saying, ‘That’s a great idea and what if …’ We could build on each other’s excitement. I would just say that he did it very well. He articulated what he wanted. He was very inclusive, collaborative, patient, and that brings everyone together and makes everyone feel like they all want the movie to be good because it’s their stuff out there.”

BEN AFFLECK:
“The role of the mother, Helene, was pivotal, she needed to be vial, yet there are moments in the movie where you empathize with her. She’s a drug addict and she’s skanky. I was sitting in my office and Amy came in and she read the first scene. I said, ‘Can you read the next scene?’ She read it and I said, ‘You’re hired, I’m offering you the movie,’ and she was like, ‘Okay.’”

AMY RYAN (Helene McCready) on playing Amanda’s mother:
“It wasn’t disturbing to play, it was disturbing to watch, disturbing to read about in book form or script form, but for an actor – thrilling to play, because it’s so complicated. It’s not just a bad guy. It’s a good guy who makes really bad choices.”

BEN AFFLECK:
“I have respect for Casey, so it’s a weird thing to say I have even more respect for him but you see someone in a different light, seeing how talented he is. I was really stuck by that and impressed by that. I got to see that he had a fearlessness that I really admired. I know on some level there are people who thought, ‘Oh he’s just casting his brother.’ And they are going to see the movie and see that they were wrong.”

CASEY AFFLECK on the moral ambiguity of the script:
“I think that was always the strong suit, the moral ambiguity at the end of the movie, and then that was woven backwards throughout all the decisions of the characters and moments in the movie. That to me was the movie; a) what to do, and b) how do you know what’s right?”

Written by Judy Sloane. Back to top

Visit the official Gone Baby Gone site
Images above © Miramax Films
Feature © 2007 Visual Imagination.
Not for reproduction.

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