by Karyn L. Beach

Gone Baby Gone is about the investigation into the disappearance of a 4-year-old girl, as such, it's a compelling drama. However, Gone Baby Gone also tells the story of the resurrection and transformation of Ben Affleck who has moved from so-so actor to a talented director.

Adorable Amanda McCready (Madeline O'Brien) is every parent's nightmare. She was abducted, taken during the nigt, from her own bed. The film starts three days into the investigation. Police captain, Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) is committed to finding missing children. He lost his own daughter when she was just 12. Despite doing everything he can to find the girl, the child's aunt and uncle, Lionel and Beatrice McCready (Titus Welliver and Amy Madigan) hire a team of local private investigators, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) to assist wtih the investigation. Doyle isn't thrilled by the presence of the baby-faced detectives and points them toward police detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) who is heading the investigation. The investigation takes them into a number of directions, from dive bars in working class Boston to drug dealers in Roxbury to the country and back to the old neighborhood.

Ben Affleck is from Boston and it shows. He showcases the city and really manages to capture its flavor. He even uses the locals in some of the smaller roles, a wise decision. Affleck also co-wrote the script. People tend to forget that Affleck and friend Matt Damon won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay for Good Will Hunting. Since that time, there has been a ton of speculation that the pair really didn't write that script. But with Gone Baby Gone under his belt, some of the naysayers might have to admit that the kid does have some talent.

I've never been much of a Casey Affleck fan and was concerned that he wouldn't be able to pull this film off, but he does. Ed Harris is electric as the intense and dedicated Remy Bressant. Freeman has a smaller (but extremely important) role and he gives a solid performance here as well.

Like Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone is based on a novel by Dennis LeHane. And also like Mystic River, Patrick has to make some difficult choices and even at the end, he's still not sure he made the right one - and neither are we. As I left the theater, people were having that very discussion. If it were up to one of us, would we have done the same thing? I don't know but I do know that Gone Baby Gone is a movie that stays with you. Those who thought that Affleck's career was 'gone baby gone' are going to have to think again.