Gone Baby Gone

A small-time Boston private eye (Casey Affleck) becomes embroiled in the search for a kidnapped 3-year-old girl, his assistance only grudgingly accepted by the detectives on the case (Ed Harris, John Ashton) and their supervisor (Morgan Freeman). Aaron Stockard and Ben Affleck (who also directed) adapt Dennis Lehane’s novel into a gritty, suspenseful noir—grim, downcast and suffused with a foreboding sense that this whole thing is not going to end well. (It doesn’t, but not in the way we expect; the movie at least has many surprises along the way.) Casey Affleck carries the film with surprising ease, proving that he’s not just Ben’s kid brother, while Ben himself shows unexpectedly deft command as a director. It’s well-made and riveting, but too depressing to be called really entertaining.