Gone Baby Gone

Flicks, Andreas Heinemann

For his directorial debut, Ben Affleck returns to his native Boston to present a crime thriller about child abduction, paedophilia and ultimately the ambiguity of moral values and the human conscience. Clearly intended to be viewed as a dark human drama as much as a crime thriller, the genre from which many of the film’s strategies and techniques are borrowed from, Affleck has succeeded in winning himself critical and artistic acclaim that has eluded him since Good Will Hunting set him up as one of Hollywood’s next major talents over a decade ago.

Rolling Stone

Gone Baby Gone is full of dark secrets, and how they unravel will keep you glued.

Roger Ebert

The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature.

Premiere Magazine

It's been well-publicized that Affleck, going for as authentic a feel as possible, cast many genuine South Bostoners in both extra and speaking roles, and, while that's salutary, in some scenes his strategy backfires, yielding caricatures that are merely more vivid than the ones turned out by Central Casting Hollywood productions.

New Zealand Herald

A nihilistic, atmospheric police procedural set in his hometown, Boston, it has many inspired touches and the performances, particularly Ryan's, are outstanding.

But it is all in the service of a hugely complicated story which is too often impenetrable - both visually and dramatically. Worse, its morally ambiguous ending, though cogent enough in philosophical terms, is grim and unsatisfying.

Newshub

The film comes with some unexpected twists and turns and has far from a Hollywood ending, all good - but the by-product of those twists and turns is a fairly convoluted series of events, held together a little too tenuously in parts.

Hollywood Reporter

It's a tribute to this thoughtful, deeply poignant, splendidly executed film that we replay the conclusion in our minds long after the lights come on.

Christchurch Press

As a director, Ben Affleck proves he has a great eye for choosing faces that tell a story. This film is packed with characters who, without even uttering a line, tell a story about where they've been and who they are.