Directed by: Ben Affleck

Starring: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris

When her daughter Amanda (Madeline O’Brien) goes missing, Helene McCready (Amy Ryan) turns to making public pleas on television for help.  Her Aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) instead hires two private investigators—Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (MichelleMonaghan)—to take a look into her niece’s disappearance.  The PIs acknowledge that this is not their area of expertise, but Bea prefers them because of their connection to the rough Boston neighborhood in which the McCready family lives.  As the two investigate the case, they come across gangsters, pedophiles, and all sorts of criminals.  They eventually begin working with Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and Nick Poole (John Ashton), the detectives handling Amanda’s case.  The two PIs uncover a world of corruption that poses a major moral dilemma for the two partners.

In his directorial debut, Ben Affleck knocks it out of the park.  Gone Baby Gone is a captivating thriller that will leave you thinking for days.  It’s smart.  It’s gritty.  It’s moving.  Affleck poses moral questions that most directors would never address in your everyday crime thriller.  Affleck’s effort proves that Good Will Hunting, the only other screenplay that he’s written, was no fluke.  He can certainly hold his own without Matt Damon on the ticket.  The cast also delivers solid performances.  With the talents of Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, and Ed Harris, this was expected.  Gone Baby Gone shows the streets of Boston in all their decadence.  No indie bucket list would be complete without this gem of a movie.