Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray]

• No Country for Old Men [Blu-ray]
• Michael Clayton [Blu-ray]
• American Gangster [Blu-ray]
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Blu-ray]
• We Own the Night [Blu-ray]
• In the Valley of Elah [Blu-ray]
• There Will Be Blood [Blu-ray]
• The Brave One [Blu-ray]
• Before the Devil Knows You're Dead [Blu-ray]
• 3:10 to Yuma [Blu-ray]

Usually, I don't like book to movie adaptations, as I tend to think that there's no way that a movie can supersede the book that it's based upon, but there's been a few exceptions that I can think of right off the top of my head. Loyal to his friends, but ruthless to his enemies. You've been warned. Otherwise, I suggest to stay as far away from it as possible. But actually, it wasn't Ben Affleck's directorial debut that I have complaints about (honestly, I was quite impressed with it), but rather his choice of actors (I assume that he played a big part in casting).

I'm a movie buff, and will watch pretty much anything. In my book, Ben Affleck is THE WORST actor of all time. So to summarize, if you haven't read the book, and don't mind that pathetic excuse of an actor Casey Affleck, then there is a chance that you might enjoy this movie (although I would still recommend to just pick up a copy of a book, and read it). "Mystic River" is another one, which is based on the book by the same name, and by no other than Dennis Lehane himself. That's not how I imagined those two when I read the books. yes, Casey Affleck, who is the THIRD WORST actor, partially because of his VERY annoying voice, but mostly because of the fact that he simply can't act.

"Shawshank Redemption", for example, which is based on a short novel by Stephen King. Hey, Ben, have you read the book. I can't say that I like all of his books, but in my opinion "Gone Baby Gone" is one of his better ones. PERIOD. But you've probably already guessed it - THE CHARACTERS killed it. And the only reason I say "almost" is because he was surrounded by a bunch of losers. I'll start off by saying that I am a HUGE Dennis Lehane fan. I think the only bright spot in the movie was Ed Harris, who almost nailed his part.

Casey Affleck's portrayal of Patrick Kenzie was, for the lack of a better word, HORRIFIC. Anyway. While we are at it, ban Casey, and all the other Affleck's, if there are any, too. I don't think the word "actor" can be even applied in the same sentence with Ben Affleck. Arnold Schwarzenegger would've done a better job. He's not my favorite author (Harlan Coben is), but he's definitely in my top 5.

They lacked emotion; they lacked chemistry; they lacked anything else that you can possibly think of. So I thought to myself, it can't be all that bad. Morgan Freeman was totally underused. He's supposed to be the meanest, the toughest person to walk the face of this planet. The girl's mother, and her uncle were overplaying a bit.

However, I try to avoid movies with Ben Affleck for the reason mentioned above; Paul Walker (SECOND WORST actor ever. Unbelievable. Unfortunately, not. Back to the movie, and why I hated it so much.

Now let me explain what exactly I mean by that. And what about Bubba. "Running Scared" is an exception - I enjoyed that movie enormously, and can only wonder how much better it could be without Paul Walker in it); and. Boy, was I wrong.

Ben Affleck, and whoever put him in charge, and behind the camera, should be fired and banned from having anything to do with movie making industry ever again. His "better" half, as someone referred to her in the movie, or the character of Angela Gennaro, wasn't much better also. Is Casey the only one to blame. So who was the whiny, whimpy fatso that played him.

Using such language should not become mainstream or the norm. And if people really talk like this then they need an education. should be ashamed of themselves. I liked the story of this movie and I thought the acting was good, however, the overuse of the "f" word detracted from it. If someone cannot be more creative with words than that, something is wrong. Using the "f" word to describe EVERYTHING shows a lack of creativity. The problem is in this day and age most movies are full of profanity. Actors, writers, directors, etc.

He's 35-40 years old, and feeling the aches and pains of a life with too many hard knocks. That character was a major disappointment in the way it was written. Until then, this is a serviceable take on it. No time for that, I suppose. Amy Ryan is good as the mother of the kidnapped girl, although I was surprised to see she was nominated for an Oscar for mostly acting stoned and crying a lot.

The five books follow private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, and they're some of my favorite suspense/mystery novels. In the books, Patrick is regularly beaten up or shot. It's too bad that some of the plot simplification required scaling back his character, so his motivation ends up being much simpler than it was originally, but it's still a great performance. Which brings me to my main problem with the movie: I've read the book. Casey Affleck, who plays Patrick, is just too young and pretty. Maybe someday someone will do the series right, starting at the beginning and using TV to accommodate the full stories. Having said that, the movie is pretty good in its own right. So if you want a great story, with deeply drawn characters who go through the wringer, get the books, starting with A Drink Before the War.

She mostly just tails along with Patrick, and when they have their big disagreement at the end, it comes out of nowhere. I'm giving it three stars, for people who can take the profanity. It's the fourth book in a series by Dennis Lehane, the author of Mystic River. This is definitely not one for the whole family to watch. I'm not sure what the point of that was, since the book doesn't have nearly that many, and books don't have to go before rating boards.

Looking at the reviews, some people didn't even know if she was Patrick's wife, assistant, or what. Almost as disappointing is Bubba. I know it's not fair to blame a movie for not having everything the book has, or for being less complex, so I'm trying not to do that. Let's get one thing out of the way first: if profanity in movies bothers you, don't watch this one. One who does a similar job is Stephen R. Affleck does a good acting job, but it's a different character; I don't think he ever even gets a split lip. Her character is more likable here than in the book, but she's still easy to loathe, which is critical.

I know if you tried to faithfully reproduce these books on film, you'd need several hours (which is why I think most novels should be TV miniseries, not feature films). (Lehane even said he took a break from writing about Patrick and Angie when he looked back at the books and saw how much of a beating he'd been giving them, and decided they deserved a break). Lehane describes him as "six feet four inches, 235 pounds of raw adrenaline and disassociated anger. According to the director's commentary, there are over 200 swear words in the movie, to the point where it's almost a distraction early on.

He's electrifying every time he's on screen. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've ever seen a bad performance from him. Here, although Michelle Monaghan looks pretty much exactly like Angie looked in my head, she's practically a mouse except for a couple scenes. I'm not usually a person who notices direction unless it's bad, but I think Ben Affleck did a good job here. The way it was shot in Boston with a lot of locals as extras gives it a "real" feel that serves the story well. Angela is even worse. The real star might be Ed Harris, who plays his character to the hilt. It might deserve more than that, but it's hard for me to see past how much better it could have been, if they'd been more faithful in reproducing the characters, especially Angie and Bubba.

(Starting with the fourth book really hurts here, because there's no history to explain where they're coming from). But some things about the characters still bothered me. The crime plot is scaled way back, and isn't any easier to understand for being simpler, but it's still suspenseful and entertaining.

In the books, although we see the story through Patrick's eyes, he and Angela are very much equal partners, and she's saved his bacon as often as the reverse. Not many authors can tell stories like these while simultaneously exploring their characters to the depth that Lehane does. Donaldson, but that's another review.

He's a fairly standard Hollywood drug dealer, and we never get any indication of the way he feels about Patrick and Angie. And he'd shoot anyone who blinked at [Patrick] the wrong way." Movie Bubba is a fat kid who shows some menace, but nowhere near the barely controlled mayhem of the real Bubba. I like Casey's voice-overs; his voice matches the character better than his looks.

Did the guy had an accident in his youth. Casey Affleck and Michelle Monoghan ressemble Lehane's characters very well. Movie is very good. But the book is much, much better. But Casey's voice. It becomes irritant in the end hearing his high tone. Sorry, Ben and my sympathies, Casey.