SCORE
-4 out of 5-
CREDITS
- Patrick Kenzie: Casey Affleck
- Angie Gennaro: Michelle Monaghan
- Jack Doyle: Morgan Freeman
- Remy Bressant: Ed Harris
- Bea McCready: Amy Ryan
- Directed by Ben Affleck
STORY
This film tells the story of a pair of private detectives. They're a young couple who specialize in finding people using their personal "street smarts" in their home city of Boston. This film depicts the last of a series of books about Patrick and Angie, written by the same author who wrote Mystic River.
Patrick and Angie are asked to work on a high-profile abduction of a young child by the victim's family. The family are very much working-class folks who ask the couple to investigate in order to supplement the police investigation, in the hopes that together they can bring the little girl home.
Make no mistake, there is much violence and vulgar language in this film. In some ways it's one of the "ugliest" films I've ever seen, in the sense that a great many of the actors and extras used in this film are not the usual pretty Hollywood stars, and accurately portray a cross-section of the poorest residents of Boston. It's also unfortunate that the main characters are a couple living together out of wedlock. Finally, Amy Ryan, as the mother of the kidnapped child, is very nearly a monster: a drug addict, a terrible mother, spewing vulgarity and hating those in her family who have done the most for her.
In this dirty world, however, shines a bright light of moral focus from the main character, Patrick. Patrick is probably a nominal or lapsed Catholic (judging by the excellent and deeply human introductory monologue), but like many he feels no compulsion to follow the tenets of the faith. However, ingrained in him is a strong need to do the right thing, a moral certainty that is in some ways even more admirable given what he chooses to surround himself with.
Throughout the film it is Patrick's need to do what's right that drives him. At one point he has done something terrible, which everyone around him assures him was justified -- the wrong thing for the right reason. In the face of all their praise, Patrick knows deep inside himself that what he has done is truly wrong, and he can feel only guilt for it.
Patrick is forced to make a major moral choice near the end of the film with serious personal and spiritual ramifications. I'm still not sure if I agree with his choice, but I can only hope that, facing a question of that magnitude and regardless of the consequences, I would do what I felt was right.
PROS: This is an extremely well-made film, with an excellent script and great direction from Ben Affleck (of all people), though there is a sort of break between two halves of the story which is jarring. Casey Affleck makes a surprisingly strong and effective leading man, and is fantastic, an antidote to wishy-washy and girly leading men. Amy Ryan completely sinks herself into the terrible human being she plays. Michelle Monaghan registers much less as Angie, but is good. Her character also has less to do than Patrick, but is well acted if not a standout. Morgan Freeman is excellent as always, as is Ed Harris.
The element of this film that impresses me most is that it is unwilling to go along with the idea that when moral issues start to become cloudy we can give up on trying to do the right thing. The moral choices are not as stark or obvious as those in something like The Dark Knight, and contain much ambiguity. However, Patrick retains his certainty that he must do the right thing, and always acts according to his conscience. He finds right choices in bad situations, and even if he's wrong in some cases his search for the morally upright solution is admirable. I especially appreciate his guilt over an action that others praise him for. He knows that, whatever others may say, his action was not justified and was wrong. This way of thinking points us toward God, whether we truly know Him or not.
Finally this film shows us glimmers of humanity in the otherwise black hole of Bea McCready's soul. At one point the terrible weight of the loss of her child finally seems to settle on her, and she worries whether "they" will feed her daughter. While a redemption for Bea is not part of the story, this crack in her unfeeling exterior helps us to see that she has a soul too.
It's also valuable to see what happens when we surround ourselves with bad people. Bea sees nothing unusual in her drug use and other offenses because her world consists mostly of people who see that as normal; what things may we do that others would find horrifying outside of our group?
CONS: As I said above there is much ugliness in this film, whether it be Amy Ryan's awful mother, a Haitian gangster, or the child molesters who are discussed as possible suspects in the child's kidnapping. The violence is not particularly graphic, but it is very intense as depicted. There is also much vulgarity, which the filmmakers apparently feel is necessary to show some of the lower-class people and criminals in Boston.
I feel that these things are excessive and not necessary to the extent they are used (see The Dark Knight for a film that uses implied violence effectively to reduce its dependence on graphic violence onscreen). One will need a fairly high tolerance for vulgarity and for dark themes to watch this movie.
The heroes of this film are also a couple living together out of wedlock, which is an unfortunate element. This is not played up, and if they had been married things would have been almost the same. I think, however, that in some ways the ending of the film may make some people consider this situation. The ending seems to be, if not critical of this arrangement, at least cautionary to those who might enter into a similar one.
Final Thought: This film follows a man committed to doing the right thing through some very dark and difficult situations. Patrick's certainty that he must do the right thing despite its cost is inspiring, though the ugliness and vulgarity of this film as depicted limit the audience it's appropriate for.
This makes a far better alternative to other gritty and dark films with no moral compass, though major caveats apply as mentioned above. If nothing else the ending will give the viewer something to think about for a while, and I think it's hard not to feel respect for the main character's decision.
Bottom Line: 4/5
This film tells the story of a pair of private detectives. They're a young couple who specialize in finding people using their personal "street smarts" in their home city of Boston. This film depicts the last of a series of books about Patrick and Angie, written by the same author who wrote Mystic River.
Patrick and Angie are asked to work on a high-profile abduction of a young child by the victim's family. The family are very much working-class folks who ask the couple to investigate in order to supplement the police investigation, in the hopes that together they can bring the little girl home.
Make no mistake, there is much violence and vulgar language in this film. In some ways it's one of the "ugliest" films I've ever seen, in the sense that a great many of the actors and extras used in this film are not the usual pretty Hollywood stars, and accurately portray a cross-section of the poorest residents of Boston. It's also unfortunate that the main characters are a couple living together out of wedlock. Finally, Amy Ryan, as the mother of the kidnapped child, is very nearly a monster: a drug addict, a terrible mother, spewing vulgarity and hating those in her family who have done the most for her.
In this dirty world, however, shines a bright light of moral focus from the main character, Patrick. Patrick is probably a nominal or lapsed Catholic (judging by the excellent and deeply human introductory monologue), but like many he feels no compulsion to follow the tenets of the faith. However, ingrained in him is a strong need to do the right thing, a moral certainty that is in some ways even more admirable given what he chooses to surround himself with.
Throughout the film it is Patrick's need to do what's right that drives him. At one point he has done something terrible, which everyone around him assures him was justified -- the wrong thing for the right reason. In the face of all their praise, Patrick knows deep inside himself that what he has done is truly wrong, and he can feel only guilt for it.
Patrick is forced to make a major moral choice near the end of the film with serious personal and spiritual ramifications. I'm still not sure if I agree with his choice, but I can only hope that, facing a question of that magnitude and regardless of the consequences, I would do what I felt was right.
PROS: This is an extremely well-made film, with an excellent script and great direction from Ben Affleck (of all people), though there is a sort of break between two halves of the story which is jarring. Casey Affleck makes a surprisingly strong and effective leading man, and is fantastic, an antidote to wishy-washy and girly leading men. Amy Ryan completely sinks herself into the terrible human being she plays. Michelle Monaghan registers much less as Angie, but is good. Her character also has less to do than Patrick, but is well acted if not a standout. Morgan Freeman is excellent as always, as is Ed Harris.
The element of this film that impresses me most is that it is unwilling to go along with the idea that when moral issues start to become cloudy we can give up on trying to do the right thing. The moral choices are not as stark or obvious as those in something like The Dark Knight, and contain much ambiguity. However, Patrick retains his certainty that he must do the right thing, and always acts according to his conscience. He finds right choices in bad situations, and even if he's wrong in some cases his search for the morally upright solution is admirable. I especially appreciate his guilt over an action that others praise him for. He knows that, whatever others may say, his action was not justified and was wrong. This way of thinking points us toward God, whether we truly know Him or not.
Finally this film shows us glimmers of humanity in the otherwise black hole of Bea McCready's soul. At one point the terrible weight of the loss of her child finally seems to settle on her, and she worries whether "they" will feed her daughter. While a redemption for Bea is not part of the story, this crack in her unfeeling exterior helps us to see that she has a soul too.
It's also valuable to see what happens when we surround ourselves with bad people. Bea sees nothing unusual in her drug use and other offenses because her world consists mostly of people who see that as normal; what things may we do that others would find horrifying outside of our group?
CONS: As I said above there is much ugliness in this film, whether it be Amy Ryan's awful mother, a Haitian gangster, or the child molesters who are discussed as possible suspects in the child's kidnapping. The violence is not particularly graphic, but it is very intense as depicted. There is also much vulgarity, which the filmmakers apparently feel is necessary to show some of the lower-class people and criminals in Boston.
I feel that these things are excessive and not necessary to the extent they are used (see The Dark Knight for a film that uses implied violence effectively to reduce its dependence on graphic violence onscreen). One will need a fairly high tolerance for vulgarity and for dark themes to watch this movie.
The heroes of this film are also a couple living together out of wedlock, which is an unfortunate element. This is not played up, and if they had been married things would have been almost the same. I think, however, that in some ways the ending of the film may make some people consider this situation. The ending seems to be, if not critical of this arrangement, at least cautionary to those who might enter into a similar one.
Final Thought: This film follows a man committed to doing the right thing through some very dark and difficult situations. Patrick's certainty that he must do the right thing despite its cost is inspiring, though the ugliness and vulgarity of this film as depicted limit the audience it's appropriate for.
This makes a far better alternative to other gritty and dark films with no moral compass, though major caveats apply as mentioned above. If nothing else the ending will give the viewer something to think about for a while, and I think it's hard not to feel respect for the main character's decision.
Bottom Line: 4/5
"It's also valuable to see what happens when we surround ourselves with bad people. "
ReplyDeleteHopefully, people pick up on themes like that when watching movies. As a former prosecutor, I have prosecuted many people who were, for all intents and purposes, "guilty by association." Despite what you may believe, you can go to jail because of the company you keep.
I have not seen this film, and I might bhave avoided it for the Affleck label, but now I will give it a fair shot.
Now that I have seent his film - I admit that I was impressed by its plot and quality. However, it was disappointing that the content was so depressingly negative. It was necessary toe ffectively tell the story, but was it a story worth telling? I think that it was, but I question whether I am happier for having seen it.
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