Gone Baby Gone 2007 ***

Ben Affleck has proved himself as a director with three excellent films, The Town, Argo, and 2007’s Gone Baby Gone, an adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel that provides plenty of scope for a thoughtful thriller, right down to a brilliant final shot. Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan play tow detectives who investigate the disappearance of a missing schoolgirl, with her distraught mother played superbly by Amy Ryan. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman are amongst a cast of characters who know more than they are saying about the crime, and Affleck displays his customary grasp of Boston social strata, from the police to the local gang culture. With a strong script that uses much of Lehane’s dialogue, Gone Baby Gone is an absorbing thriller that feels like a labour of love for Affleck.