MOVIE: Gone Baby Gone

Last night, I went with a friend to see Gone Baby Gone over at the Rave, and I have to say that it is my favorite movie of the year so far.

I went into it not knowing anything about the film except that it was Ben Affleck's directoral debut and that the movie had a 90%+ rating at rottentomatoes.com.

An adaptation of Dennis Lehane's book of the same name, the story is amazingly engaging. We follow the investigation of a missing girl by a couple of Boston area detectives played by Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan.

This movie had caliber. The writing, acting, editing, score, and cinematography were all above average. Once I got home, I bought the movie's opening track from iTunes. I also thought that the movie did a really good job keeping the big names (Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris) from overshadowing the main characters. As for the cinematography, the establishing shots (overhead and on-the-street) were beautiful, and I thought they captured the beauty of Boston.

I could definitely go see it again, and I just might.

Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan
Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck
Amy Ryan and Ed Harris
Another one of [Viggo-esque] Ed Harris (I couldn't resist)