Don't let this "Baby" pass you by--Gone Baby Gone

"I always believed it was the things you don't choose, that makes you who you are. Your city. Your neighborhood. Your family. People here take pride in these things, like it was something they'd accomplished…This city can be hard. When I was young I asked my priest how you could get to heaven and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world. He told me what God told His children. You are sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents, but innocent as doves."

With these words, Casey Affleck not only establishes himself as one of our major actors, but he sums up what will easily be my 2008 Film of the Year in poetic form. He also effectively gives me my favorite opening to a movie. It is as close to art as we will ever find in film, as the words and soundtrack are beautifully wrapped up in a controversial issue—the unfit parent. However, we do not realize how vital this opening is until the very end of the movie.

Casey Affleck, a 31 yr old private detective, literally lives out his own prologue, as his youthful innocence and "serpent street smarts" are constantly conflicting with each other throughout this gem of a movie. Critics are already talking about the meaning of the ending, as it is both sad and devastatingly truthful. There are parents in this world that are not qualified to be parents, but still are. However, are any of us allowed to judge them? And more importantly, what do we do when we witness bad parenting in action, as Lionel and Bee do in this film? While we can't go around kidnapping kids that we believe are in a rotten home situation, we must find a role, and it is with that sentiment that this movie wrestles.

It is obvious in this movie that Amy Ryan—who should easily win a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a clueless and controversial mother—is in line for "Bad Mother of the Year," as she constantly mistreats or neglects her 3 year old daughter. However, she is never really "caught" or turned in for her neglect. While she does not do it for attention, there is, nevertheless, a sadness that comes when she realizes her child will be brought back to her, as she deeply believes, that her child would have been better off with someone else, all while she could continue her selfish lifestyle. While that is sad, it is not nearly as devastating as what Casey Affleck goes through.

First, and most importantly, Casey Affleck makes a choice, which ultimately leads to a united family, all while ruining his current relationship. While this may not seem sad, it is the soundtrack, coupled with the opening lines that bring this movie to a haunting close. Affleck "chooses" to take a stand for what is right, which leads to his downfall—his loss of identity, as the opening lines remind us. If he had not chosen to do what was right, he would have a sense of identity, as he himself tells the audience. It is what he has "always believed." There is no past tense to his sentence, voice or decision.

What was the right decision? I don't know. I do know that it will be controversial, as both my sister and I are still debating the choice made by Affleck, and we very rarely argue. You'll have to watch this brilliant movie and make up your own mind. The Bible tells us that the parents are to "train up a child in which he/she should go, so that when they are old, they will not depart from it [Scripture]." However, in this movie, it is difficult to determine who or what is the right thing, as it is wrong to steal, but it is also wrong to leave your 3yr old kid in a close car on a 105 degree day. I'm reminded of my favorite line from BJ Honeycutt from the TV show MASH: "There are some things that are wrong. And they're always wrong." This movie effectively throws that statement out the window. Affleck, in standing up for what he believes, loses everything that mattered to him, all while becoming the man he was meant to be. Has he lost his identity or given it to another? Watch and decide for yourself.

Student Critic