Martin's Musings

In the opening scene of Gone Baby Gone, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) talks about how the neighborhood you grow up in is what makes you who you are. And clearly, that pedigree is all over Ben Affleck’s film.

I’m a Brookline kind of guy, and I don’t know Dorchester from anything, but this movie just feels, looks, and sounds authentic. (And for the record, yes, I know Ben’s from Cambridge, not Dorchester. Close enough.)

From the accents (though they’re stronger at the beginning than at the end) to the shots of the streets and people of the neighborhood, there’s no mistaking that this is a set-in-Boston movie.

Hell, Ben even gives a special thanks to Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in the closing credits.

Gone tells the story of the search for a missing four-year-old Dorchester girl. Early on in the search, the girl’s frantic aunt hires Kenzie, an investigator who gets people to talk because he’s a local boy and knows the neighborhood and, most importantly, works independently of the police.

Kenzie works with his girlfriend, Angie (Michelle Monaghan), and the two initially feel like they are in over their heads because the cases they typically get involved with don’t ever involve the possibility of a dead body.

But they uncover some details the police weren’t paying attention to, and soon they’re also collaborating with two cops (including one played by Ed Harris) and their Chief (Morgan Freeman).

And that’s just part of it.

Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (who also wrote the book Mystic River), and adapted by Affleck and Lehane with Aaron Stockard, it’s a layered plot with twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.

Acting across the board is excellent, from Casey Affleck on down. Clearly, working with his brother suits Casey (though he was also good in The Assassination of Jesse James …).

But Ben’s made a compelling movie that is a great compliment to Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River, with its working-class neighborhood setting and missing person plotline.

It’s pretty exciting that the movie turned out so well, because I think deep down Affleck’s a good, decent guy (and he certainly has great taste in women), and he was due for something to turn out so well. I mean, you could say the guy didn’t really stretch himself, given that this is such a Boston-centric film. But Gone Baby Gone more than that, more than Good Will Hunting too, and it’s a very impressive achievement.

I’m giving Gone Baby Gone an A–.

Terrorism, at least on the surface, is a pretty senseless act.

It’s often marked by big, loud actions that do nothing more than disrupt an otherwise peaceful existence.

Though this analysis might be weak and simplistic, I find it an apt way to begin a review of The Kingdom because similarly, the movie is often big and loud, and on the surface, it’s pretty empty.

Kingdom tells how a group of FBI agents go to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terrorist bombing in an American compound by an Osama bin Laden wannabe.

It stars Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, and Chris Cooper, but none of those folks — not even my beloved Jennifer Garner — give a performance that makes much of an impact.

Jeremy Piven’s also in the film, but he seems totally miscast. He’s playing an ambassador, but I kept giggling every time he was on screen waiting for him to bust out an Ari Gold–ism.

Which is not to say The Kingdom is a bad movie necessarily. But it sets everything up and then in about 15 minutes it blows up into explosions, chases and gunplay, and then it’s over.

Essentially, it turns a timely setting into a convenient place for an action flick. And it’s a good last 15 minutes, but sort of a waste nevertheless.

So I’m giving The Kingdoma B-. Sorry, Jen.

The trailer for Jennifer Garner’s latest film, Catch and Release, doesn’t exactly promise a very good movie.

So the good news is that the trailer gets it partly wrong.

For example, Catch is not a fun, cutesy romantic comedy about a woman getting over the death of her fiancee by falling in love with his best friend. Instead, it’s a rather serious film about a woman whose fiancee dies just days before the wedding, and who, in dealing with her grief, learns surprising things about him and herself.

Alright, fine, she does also fall in love with his best friend, but she does it reluctantly.

And even better, that’s not really the crux of the movie.

So I guess the film’s surprising depth is what redeems it from being a typical January throw-away.

Still, let’s not go too far with praise here. While the romance doesn’t feel totally forced, it does feel unrealistic. And Kevin Smith, playing a role probably meant for Jack Black, should probably stick to films he writes and directs, where he usually plays a character named Silent Bob.

Overall, the screenplay (by Susannah Grant, who also wrote Erin Brockovich and In Her Shoes, and who makes her directorial debut here) could have used some pruning; the generally likable cast helps a great deal to overcome its limitations.

Still, I just didn’t get into the story enough and found certain plot details predictable or unnecessary.

And Jennifer Garner just isn’t given enough opportunities to smile. When she does, it basically makes the movie worth watching — as does the scene where she’s wearing her wedding dress.

Catch earns points for being better than expected, but loses some for just not being compelling enough. So, I’m giving it a B–.