gone baby gone

i'm just a little bit suspicious of american films with big name actors
equally so when it's the directional debut by a big hollywood star
ben affleck is now on the other side of the camera as director
young brother casey is the star as private detective patrick kenzie
his life and work partner is angie gennaro played by michelle monaghan
the film is based on the favourite book of ben affleck's with the same name
the baby in the title is in reference to a 4 year old girl named amanda
gone because she has disappeared and her family are distraught
patrick is asked to help and it's hard for him and angie to resist
so in they go and they take us on the ride with them
the film is set in the guts of boston where life is very tough
happiness seems to be a word no-one knows the meaning of
casey affleck as a tough and street-smart detective is a bit of a stretch
so there are a few scenes in the early part proving how tough he is
with his lazy boston talking style he takes on the worst of the baddies
can't always understand what he is saying but he gives it to them
and balances it all with tender scenes with angie and concern for the child
morgan freeman soon shows up as the affected police captain
who suffered his only daughter being murdered when she was 12
and prepared to bypass the law himself to find the missing child
appoints another long-serving detective (played by ed harris) and his sidekick
before long it is discovered the child has got caught up in a botched drug deal
and is being held pending return of the missing money
there is also the possiblity of some pedophiles in the mix
all pretty straight-forward up to now - had me hooked in
a bunch of disparate goodies joined in common good to save the child
versus a bunch of baddies in drug dealers and child molesters
got the feeling half of the film was used setting up the first part of the book
because in the second half a lot of stuff happens very quickly
as the forces of good start to unravel and finger-pointing starts
the director (affleck) seems to fast-forward over some parts using voiceover
and also annoyingly decides the audience may not have got some connections
so several earlier scenes are replayed as thought processes from the hero
there's action aplenty with lots of hand-guns drawn and used
in one scene i very much felt like i was involved in a game of quake
the hero with gun drawn moving through a house kicking down doors
and baddies coming and going through other doorways
there's a very strange scene in a bar with a masked intruder
that leads to more goodies come baddies going down
of course in the end the child is found alive and well
but by then it seems all the goodies are dead or now baddies
and there is only one man standing alone with the child
even his lady has dumped him because of his moral stance
so the final scene is just a little bit cloying
this is not a bad film - some great acting
and i suspect it's quite true to the story
maybe i should have read the book first
but it probably wouldn't appeal to me
just too much bad america in there
thanks for the reminder