Bored Baby Bored (Spoiler Warning!)

I watched Gone Baby Gone last night and was highly disappointed. I really can't figure out what all the hoopla was about. The film was mediocre at best. The first 2/3 of it were decent and engagin although I found Casey Affleck's character irritating. (Speak up, you mumbling fuck!) When the plot twisting got underway, I was completely underwhelmed. I won't blame Ben Affleck because he only directed the film. I don't know if the book was that lame or the screenwriter couldn't figure out how to fit the book's premise into a 2 hour film, but something got lost in translation.

The idea, much like Mystic River, is for the audience to ask themselves, "What would they have done in the same situation?" In MR, we are supposed to identify with Sean Penn and accept that his murder of an innocent man was justified in order for him to move on after the death of his daughter. Or at least, that was my take. One of the most disturbing scenes in that movie was the scene of Laura Linney reassuring SP after the murder.

Here, we are asked to assess whether Casey Affleck's decision to return the kid to her neglectful homelife rather than leaving her with her kinder, gentler kidnappers was good or bad. The movie tries to play it ambiguous, but there are a few too many judgments thrown out. Morgan Freeman is playing one of those "raceless" roles, except you can't have it both ways. A middle-aged interracial couple with a practically Aryan 3-year-old might get a look or two and since said-tiny Aryan's picture was splattered all over the news, it stands to reason this little plan might not hold up too well.

One of the most convoluted aspects of the film's twist is that so many "useless" people are murdered in the process. Yes, people don't give much of a crap about drug dealers and pedophiles (and for good measure, the film takes the easy way out and makes all of these people extra-violent and vile). But for the most part, the People usually only like their "dirty cops" on TV. In real life, a nutty vigilante officer would scare the pants off most of the public. Are we really supposed to believe that all these cops are gonna go through all of this to save one little blond moppet?

And let's not forget the deaths of two police officers. Dirty cops, yes, but cops all the same.

I have to get back to work now. Perhaps I'll bitch about this movie more later. Or maybe I'll just block it out of my mind and move on since I just didn't like it.