Stars: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Amy Ryan
Director: Ben Affleck
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Supporting Actress-Amy Ryan)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars
I never really thought about Ben Affleck until he became a director. I always thought he was a bit of a bore. His acting was a bit of a dud, never really rising above semi-serious. He was cute, but Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio were far cuter. And his role as a celebrity was always a bit baffling, as he was never particularly compelling (we all went hog-wild for Bennifer, Part 1 because we were obsessed with Jennifer Lopez, who might not be a great actor but is an AMAZING celebrity). So when he took the director's chair, I wasn't really expecting much, certainly not a chillingly-wonderful movie like Argo or the avalanche of Oscar nominations that his film would elicit, putting him in the company of people like Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood who were arguably more intriguing behind the camera than in front of it. However, I went backward on the whole Affleck-directed film thing, so that his first directing effort was actually the most recent one that I've seen, and unlike most other chapters in his career, I was genuinely curious to see what would come out of this first effort-would it be a rudimentary take on a story or would it be Citizen Kane?
(Spoilers Ahead) What I found out was that it was a lot more similar to The Town than Argo in terms of my enjoyment. The movie finds a voice, for certain, and has occasionally strong performances, but it never quite elevates to the point of greatness that I think we would expect from Affleck after the popcorn thriller take of Argo (Argo is, to use the slight edges of simile differentiation, a great movie but not necessarily a great film). The movie, set in South Boston, follows a Private Detective named Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) and his girlfriend named Angie (Monahan), though you'd be forgiven for not knowing her name as Affleck is not great at getting scripts with compelling female love interests. They are trying to find the missing daughter of Helene McCready (Ryan), a drugged-out woman far more caught up in her own personal drama than in her daughter's welfare.
The film tries really hard to make a lot of strong points, and it's not a particularly bad movie even if it misses most of them entirely. Casey Affleck is really well-cast. He's a fine actor (better than Ben, it's true), and he has the look down pat-he's the sort of guy that's pretty enough that both men and women find him attractive (which factors into a weirdly homo-erotically charged scene in a bar), and his cough-cold voice and giant eyes make his occasional bad-assery all the more shocking, and as a result, convincing. The rest of the male roles, though, find themselves in pretty blase territory. Ed Harris' character is too convoluted and the script does him no favors (you never really get to know his motives), but Harris himself doesn't help matters by remaining too much of a mystery, even when he's supposed to be revealing. Morgan Freeman isn't playing exactly the sort of role that we've come to expect from him, but his stature as a movie star sort of gives away the "twist" ending (there's no way an Oscar-winner of his prestige would sign up for such an inconsequential role unless something was coming later), and Freeman trades more on his voice and intense eyes than he does on making this a rounded human being.
As I indicated above, the film has serious script issues. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (which I haven't read, so I don't know if that's where the root of these problems lies or not), the movie rushes certain scenes too much and the mid-movie fakeout (it sure feels like an ending) is arduous considering the fact that we know there's still an hour to go and this can't be the end of this chapter of the story. The finale also glosses over certain things (Ed Harris' motivations being critical), and feels weirdly paced for a film that generally seems pretty deliberate (or again, that might just be Affleck's delivery distracting us).
The film received one Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, and in a nice twist it's a genuine supporting performance (2007's Supporting Actress lineup stands out in this way, as none of the women nominated are co-leads pretending to be supporting). Amy Ryan won her only Oscar nomination (to date) for Helene, a plum assignment for an actress as she gets to be loud, bawdy, troubled, and strung out. The performance is never bad, and occasionally strong (Ryan knocks the ambivalence toward her daughter in the final scene out of the park, and clearly got the nomination at that moment), but I would have loved to have seen a little more layering. What were her actual thoughts about her daughter leaving-she gives a peak of herself, the way that she wants to be noticed, through in that final scene that intrigued me more than anything else in the film (it's a good finale), but otherwise she's going through the motions of a BAIT-y part. Ryan's a strong actor-I would have liked to see her play a little bit more with this character considering its prominence in her filmography.
Those were my thoughts on this 2007 Oscar nominee (expect to see a lot more from this year in the next few weeks). In the meantime, what were yours? Where does Amy Ryan sit in your Best Supporting Actress lineup (I still have one more nominee to go!)? And where does Gone Baby Gone rank in your personal Ben Affleck favorites list? Share in the comments!
(Spoilers Ahead) What I found out was that it was a lot more similar to The Town than Argo in terms of my enjoyment. The movie finds a voice, for certain, and has occasionally strong performances, but it never quite elevates to the point of greatness that I think we would expect from Affleck after the popcorn thriller take of Argo (Argo is, to use the slight edges of simile differentiation, a great movie but not necessarily a great film). The movie, set in South Boston, follows a Private Detective named Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) and his girlfriend named Angie (Monahan), though you'd be forgiven for not knowing her name as Affleck is not great at getting scripts with compelling female love interests. They are trying to find the missing daughter of Helene McCready (Ryan), a drugged-out woman far more caught up in her own personal drama than in her daughter's welfare.
The film tries really hard to make a lot of strong points, and it's not a particularly bad movie even if it misses most of them entirely. Casey Affleck is really well-cast. He's a fine actor (better than Ben, it's true), and he has the look down pat-he's the sort of guy that's pretty enough that both men and women find him attractive (which factors into a weirdly homo-erotically charged scene in a bar), and his cough-cold voice and giant eyes make his occasional bad-assery all the more shocking, and as a result, convincing. The rest of the male roles, though, find themselves in pretty blase territory. Ed Harris' character is too convoluted and the script does him no favors (you never really get to know his motives), but Harris himself doesn't help matters by remaining too much of a mystery, even when he's supposed to be revealing. Morgan Freeman isn't playing exactly the sort of role that we've come to expect from him, but his stature as a movie star sort of gives away the "twist" ending (there's no way an Oscar-winner of his prestige would sign up for such an inconsequential role unless something was coming later), and Freeman trades more on his voice and intense eyes than he does on making this a rounded human being.
As I indicated above, the film has serious script issues. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (which I haven't read, so I don't know if that's where the root of these problems lies or not), the movie rushes certain scenes too much and the mid-movie fakeout (it sure feels like an ending) is arduous considering the fact that we know there's still an hour to go and this can't be the end of this chapter of the story. The finale also glosses over certain things (Ed Harris' motivations being critical), and feels weirdly paced for a film that generally seems pretty deliberate (or again, that might just be Affleck's delivery distracting us).
The film received one Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, and in a nice twist it's a genuine supporting performance (2007's Supporting Actress lineup stands out in this way, as none of the women nominated are co-leads pretending to be supporting). Amy Ryan won her only Oscar nomination (to date) for Helene, a plum assignment for an actress as she gets to be loud, bawdy, troubled, and strung out. The performance is never bad, and occasionally strong (Ryan knocks the ambivalence toward her daughter in the final scene out of the park, and clearly got the nomination at that moment), but I would have loved to have seen a little more layering. What were her actual thoughts about her daughter leaving-she gives a peak of herself, the way that she wants to be noticed, through in that final scene that intrigued me more than anything else in the film (it's a good finale), but otherwise she's going through the motions of a BAIT-y part. Ryan's a strong actor-I would have liked to see her play a little bit more with this character considering its prominence in her filmography.
Those were my thoughts on this 2007 Oscar nominee (expect to see a lot more from this year in the next few weeks). In the meantime, what were yours? Where does Amy Ryan sit in your Best Supporting Actress lineup (I still have one more nominee to go!)? And where does Gone Baby Gone rank in your personal Ben Affleck favorites list? Share in the comments!
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