A family affair

Boston's getting some serious attention these days. After "The Departed" and "Mystic River," "Gone Baby Gone," based on a book by the same author who wrote "Mystic River," shares the dark colors and darker sentiments of the other two films. In his directorial debut, Ben Affleck navigates murky ethical waters in search of a missing child. Despite the terrible title and a few lines of regrettable dialogue, the film seethes behind the cold intensity of Affleck's younger brother Casey Affleck's baby blues staring out into darkness.\nCasey Affleck's understated performance grows more complex as his character progresses. A cocksure private eye in search of a missing girl, Casey's Patrick Kenzie descends into an ever-deepening hole of moral ambiguity, losing more than he ever expected on one case that seemed straightforward. \nI won't reveal the movie's many twists, but every character hides a secret motive or tainted past, and the deeper Casey digs, the more his Bah-ston wiseguy manner falls away, replaced by confusion and isolation. From the less-than-ideal mother to the neighborhood toughs to the smirking cops, everyone is hiding something, most significantly the hard-nosed cop played by Ed Harris, who turns in an outstanding performance that is as explosive as Casey's is muted.\nIn a movie about child abduction, the meditations on lost childhood resonate throughout, from pedophiles to deadbeat parents to the police's constant comments about Patrick's age and baby face. Even Patrick's own ruminations on his beloved Boston hint that his childhood, too, went astray, while his partner-lover's (Michelle Monaghan) noble thoughts on motherhood belie their childless relationship. Thus, the title, though clunky, suggests the missing child in every facet of the movie.\nBen Affleck does fall into some typical first-time-director troubles. The shadowy moral decisions come across best through the characters' actions and reactions, not through bland explanatory dialogue, which Ben allows to slow down the film. Additionally, he feels compelled to include lots of outside shots of Boston and its residents, as if we'd forget where we were, with dialogue less crackling but just as vulgar and bah-stardized as that of Mark Wahlberg in last year's "The Departed."\nRegardless, the Brothers Affleck have combined to make a powerful film that will have you talking about the movie for hours afterward. With this film, they have proven that Boston's dark potential has yet to be exhausted.