Brothers Affleck score with 'Gone Baby Gone'
"Gone Baby Gone" -- Fans of the American crime film should be murderously happy these days. Starting with Martin Scorsese's 2006 triumph "The Departed," quality crime flicks have enjoyed a renaissance on the big screen. 2007 gave us David Fincher's masterful "Zodiac" and the Coen brothers' Oscar-nominated "No Country For Old Men." Add to that list "Gone Baby Gone," a stunning directorial debut for Ben Affleck and one of the best pictures of the year.
Casey Affleck (Ben's younger brother) plays Patrick Kenzie, a lifelong resident of the tough Dorchester neighborhood in Boston who now prowls its streets as a private investigator. When a 4-year-old girl is kidnapped, her relatives turn to Kenzie and his girlfriend/partner for help; as a local boy, Kenzie can get answers on the street that the cops can't. He gathers scraps of information from the seedy regulars at neighborhood bars, info he then shares with two Boston police detectives assigned to the case. But with each new detail, the case gets more complicated, until Kenzie finds himself nearly strangled by a knot of lies, evil and betrayal. All of this leads to a powerhouse ending that's miraculously free of easy answers.
"Gone Baby Gone," based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, hums with the sights, sounds and rhythms of its decaying South Boston setting. The script, co-written by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard, preserves Lehane's uniquely funny and vulgar dialogue, which Affleck augments with gritty snapshots of the neighborhood's places and people. For a first-time director, Affleck displays a natural gift for pacing and mood. The film retains the subtlety of good fiction without sacrificing tension. It's a fantastic debut.
Equally good is Affleck's top-shelf ensemble cast. Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Amy Ryan and Titus Welliver all create memorable characters. Then there's Casey Affleck, who's had a breakthrough year (he earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"). In "Gone Baby Gone," he proves he can carry a film and go toe-to-toe with heavyweights like Harris and Freeman. See this film; you won't soon forget it.
The DVD comes with an interesting commentary by Ben Affleck and Stockard, a couple of making-of featurettes and deleted scenes. The only thing missing from this release is the film's trailer. (R; Miramax, $29.99)
"Family Ties: The Complete Third Season" -- This was one of the best sitcoms of the 1980s, and I'm surprised at how well it holds up. The show revolves around the Keaton family: liberal ex-hippie parents Elyse and Steven and their three Reagan-era kids (including Michael J. Fox as Alex, the ultimate Young Republican). The stories are run-of-the-mill sitcom material, but they benefit from smart writing and fine acting. Fox was the breakout star of the show, of course, but watching these episodes again gave me a new appreciation for Justine Bateman's work as the sweet but shallow Mallory. This four-disc set includes all third-season episodes as well as promo spots and a gag reel. (Paramount, $42.99)