Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Every grown-up in this movie looks at Patrick Kenzie like he’s a kid who wandered into the wrong bar, and the film uses that brilliantly. Casey Affleck plays him soft-spoken and stubborn, the kind of guy who wins arguments by refusing to leave. Ben Affleck shoots his Boston neighborhood with real faces and real accents, and it feels lived-in rather than staged. Amy Ryan is fierce and messy as Helene, a mom who’s impossible to like and impossible to dismiss. Ed Harris is excellent. The weak spot is Michelle Monaghan, stuck in a partner role that mostly reacts, and the case leans on a couple of coincidences that strain belief. The movie handles a missing child with real care and never turns her into a cheap thrill. It made $34.6 million worldwide on a reported $19M. An 8.4 because it asks a hard moral question and refuses to answer it for you. $860.96 says you argue about the ending with whoever watched it with you, and nobody wins.

What works: Casey Affleck’s quiet stubbornness, Amy Ryan’s raw Helene and a Boston that looks and sounds completely real.

What doesn’t: Michelle Monaghan’s Angie gets little to do, and the plot leans on a couple of twists that strain belief.

Who it’s for: Grown-ups who like crime dramas that leave them with a hard question instead of a neat answer.