Viewed – 01 February 2014 Netflix
Taken me a while to review this and it seemed the most interesting choice on Netflix as I was perusing titles suitable for both my mother and father to watch at same time … so anything particularly violent or with sex in it is usually out the window. This 2007 drama stars Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan as a 30 something couple who are also private investigators. They get hired by the dysfunctional family of a recently kidnapped girl after the Police fail to produce leads. Will they manage to find the girl when the authorities could not?
Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane and Directed by Ben Affleck, who has increasingly made a name for himself as a director with titles like the Oscar-magnet Argo … this I feel is his most assured and meaningful film, with a real-world relevance in reflection to those missing children headlines we hear about. Co-starring Morgan Freeman as a world-weary Police Chief (isn’t he always?) and Ed Harris as a special agent Casey turns to during his investigation, this has decent performances across the board. Although taking a while to warm to, Ben’s younger sibling proved a believable and watchable lead and well, I’m a fan of the gorgeous Monaghan who again proves convincing. It doesn’t gloss over the more harrowing aspects of child abduction neither. For a movie watched with my parents, the language was stronger than I felt necessary, but that’s my only sticking point.
The story had plenty of twists and turns, keeping me guessing throughout (although I got lost a little) and even when I thought I had it figured out, pretty much guessing one of the bad guys early on … the final morality-punch was a surprise, leaving me thinking ever since. Well worth checking out.
Verdict: 4 /5
Haven’t seen this movie in the longest time and now I want to again, I really liked it. Great review!
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