gone baby gone

in 2007 i heard that ben affleck made 'gone baby gone'. i also heard that it was yet another flick full of tough guys using 'fuck you' as a comma. well, i must have been high. or drunk. out of my mind. distracted. wrong. they must have been talking about a different movie altogether.. what a wasted 3 years without seeing this brilliant feature. and if ben affleck was not so damn handsome, i would surely advise him to stay behind the camera - forever. he managed to prove it again with 'the town'. he'll shut everybody up when at some point he makes a third movie, not based in boston, and not about the place he grew up in and knows inside out. but yet another movie about different aspects of human nature, with all its undertones, and still distinctly important. i had no idea he was so observant, intriguing, willing to discuss life's dilemmas, disturbing moral issues, without lectures and sparing the empty commentaries. at the same time, skillfully capturing the subtle moments between people, intimate looks, bonding embraces, touches that say more than words. his movies concentrate on tangible issues - a missing child, bank robbers - but gain artistry and depth by portraying a whole spectrum of emotions and fleeting feelings - love, anger, disappointment, fear.. viewer's attention stays with the characters, wearing their dark worn-out hoodies, as they glide through the story with irresistible street-smart charm, a certain aura of dignity, honesty, and unsettling angst.

my favorite scene from 'gone baby gone' takes place in a white empty hospital corridor. patrick has just killed a child molester in a violent break in, and is now standing in a blood-stained t-shirt, staring at his own reflection in a hospital window. he's visibly shaken by recent events and tries to pull himself together. angie comes up to him and tells him she's proud of him, and then in a gentle whisper 'let's go home'. with her hand, she lightly touches his neck, his brown hair, and patrick closes his tired eyes, soothed and relieved for a split second . a soft yet reassuring secret gesture.