Gone Baby Gone (2007)**+

Seen on 31-1-2010 - Star Movies

Dir.: Ben Affleck

Cast: Casey Affleck (Patrick Kenzie), Michelle Monaghan (Angie, Gennaro), Morgan Freeman, Amy Ryan (Helen McCready, the missising child's bohemian mother), Ed Harris (Remy Bressant, the detective)

Popularity Rating (IMDB) - 7.9

Awards: Nominated for Oscar (Best supporting Actress), 19 wins & 8 Nominations

Significant: 1. What starts as a missing child investigation (Like "Changeling") soon ramifies into drug dealers, paedophiles, criminal underworld, etc.; but what is significant is it ends in a personal moral crisis for Patrick Kenzie, the private investigator, because he finds that the child is hidden away by the cop (Freeman) in order to save her from her drug-addict mother: he firmly takes the position that the cop be reported and the child be reunited with her mother, even if she is an extremely undependable mother. In implementing his decision he even pushes the issue to the extreme with his girlfriend who doesn't want the child be reunited with her mother. Having implemented his decision, Patrick now feels responsible for the child's safety from her bohemian mother. The ending leaves a lasting impression.

Significant: I sat through the movie the second time although soon after the opening scenes I discovered that I had already seen the movie.

"When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detective freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons - they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live. As the case progresses, Kenzie and Gennaro face drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they finally solve the case, they are faced with a moral dilemma that tears them apart." ---IMDB summary