Baby’s Beantown mystery benefits from Ben Affleck proving he’s a decent director with a knack for nailing the local Boston color of Dennis Lehane’s book. Then it comes time to wrap things up and splat.

| Sep 8, 2023

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 18, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Gone Baby Gone is an argument for obligation over accommodation, the absolute over the contingent.

| Sep 18, 2008

Director Ben Affleck displays sensitivity to his story's thematic undercurrents, but he hasn't yet developed the authorial voice needed to enliven the conventional plotting.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2008

Flawed but impressive.

| Original Score: 3/6 | Jun 5, 2008

A superior, haunting thriller of abduction, deception and ethical dilemma with a sobering ending - a moral quandary that demands strong debate outside the cinema.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 5, 2008

Forgive him for Gigli.

| Original Score: B | Feb 22, 2008

Mr. Affleck is laying the foundation, brick by brick, for a promising new career.

Full Review | Oct 24, 2007

Ben directs Casey in Gone Baby Gone, and it's a career highlight for both of them.

Full Review | Oct 22, 2007

The unconvincing genre conventions in Gone Baby Gone are at odds with its authentic, lived-in atmosphere, but no one can say that Affleck hasn't looked into the depths, and the movie ends on a resonantly ambiguous note.

Full Review | Oct 22, 2007

Casey's big brother has made a tough, taut mystery.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 22, 2007

It turns out that we've had our Afflecks mixed up for years.

Full Review | Oct 19, 2007

Bravo to Ben Affleck for a smart choice and impressive work.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 19, 2007

As an actor, Affleck has more turkeys on his rà (C)sumà (C) than a Thanksgiving buffet, so what makes him think he can direct? Yet Gone Baby Gone is strong enough to suggest that moviegoers -- and critics -- should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 19, 2007

There's nothing flashy about Ben Affleck's direction. He clearly adores actors, and he's found the right vehicle to express what they can do.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 19, 2007

The film is full of scenes that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 19, 2007

The film is intelligent and always heading somewhere.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 19, 2007

Gone Baby Gone quietly accumulates in power, leading to one of the more subtly devastating final shots in recent memory.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Oct 19, 2007

A twisty, morally ambiguous and satisfying neo-noir.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 19, 2007