Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Good Story 126: Gone Baby Gone


Julie and Scott have never been asked to solve a crime of this magnitude. They usually solve crimes of the "who ate the last donut" variety. Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone is the subject of Episode 126.



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16 comments:

  1. Never heard of this one, added to Netflix queue and will listen to your episode after viewing it.

    The title through me at first considering Ben Affleck's "Gone Girl" a movie I totally regret seeing. Well-crafted nihilism. Can't put into words how much I hated that movie as I kept waiting for even a bit of redemption regarding the characters.

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  2. I completely agree with you on Gone Girl. It was intriguing to a point, then not a shred of self-respect or redemption in the end. Throw in a large helping of Truth having no meaning at all, and you've got that movie.

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    1. Okay, perhaps I can get you guys to look at Gone Girl in a different light. I heard Brian Godawa, a Christian author of speculative fiction explain why he includes some ugly, sinful things in his novels by saying(paraphrase) that they show how powerful redemption is by displaying what bad things are being redeemed from. Now, of course in Gone Girl there is no redemption shown, but it reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian- which I consider a great case against nihilism by putting it on display and letting it reach it's logical conclusions. So Gone Girl, in it's depiction of depravity and nihilism, can show us how ugly a world without redemption can be, and help us be thankful for the redemption found in Christ. Does that make any sense, or do you think that's a stretch Plastic Man could be proud of? ;-)

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    2. I've not seen Gone Girl and don't plan to, so I really can't comment on your point. Way before Scott disliked it, my daughter Rose hated it for the same reason. She pointed out that we get the nihilistic message continually from the world around us and felt it was a waste of her time to glorify it, which was what she felt Gone Girl did.

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    3. I definitely agree that such a movie makes me think more deeply about nihilism, and why I'm not a fan. And I also agree that a writer can make a case against such things by putting in on full display in a movie or book.

      I can't imagine that the filmmakers or author of the novel (assuming the novel is similar) are making the case that this is a terrific way to live.

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    4. I think Rose felt as if they were really just yanking her chain, because they could ... not that they were making a point about how to live. How did you feel about it?

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    5. There was a point in the movie where it became unbelievable to me. I couldn't accept that many people would believe Rosamind Pike's character after that moment.

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    6. I would be interested to know just what David Fincher's intent was as far as audience reaction. I don't think either Affleck or Pike's characters were presented in a positive way, or that would make a healthy person want to emulate them. I'm intrigued though, that even when a writer/director may have one message in mind, it can evoke something totally different than what they intended. There is just One Reality, after all!

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  3. I like this movie and The Town the best of his works. I heard he was on tap to direct a trilogy for The Stand before he was cast in that new Batman/Superman movie. After seeing those two movies, I'm sure he could do it.

    As for this, I've said it before, but it is one of my favorite movies. It's violent and rough, but that's the world we live in. Watching characters confront their sins head on and either exploding or accepting their mistakes is fascinating in a movie like this. Especially when they either repent or backslide, much like the mother.

    But the confrontation with the pedophile ("I'm sick") is probably the most striking. He made the wrong decision, but only God agreed with him, and everyone else congratulated him instead which I think is a good parallel with the ending. The world is upside down and screwed up, the right thing to do is not always so crystal clear. The ending is one of my favorites as well in that the right decision is not easy and is often not rewarded in this life. But he had to do the right thing despite it destroying his world. And he stood by it the whole way. That ending is what makes it one of my favorites. In this age where we run away from lesser problems than this, it sticks with me now.

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  4. Casey Affleck dealt with an interesting conundrum here. On the one hand it feels like a simple choice in doing the right thing at the end(what he did). But then I think of when we are called to obey God rather than man, civil disobedience and how it may very well be appropriate to break the law sometimes, lying in war like Rahab, Bonhoeffer, etc. I don't think this instance was one of those types of cases, but it provokes the thought. There was some real hope at the end there with Affleck's character following up on his decision, and not just moving on or wallowing in the consequences of his actions. God + me = a majority, right?

    The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is another excellent film starring Casey Affleck, and a great cast around him. It's also a thought provoking story, based on true events.

    I can't help seeing Scott in my mind's eye at karaoke night, forlornly singing The Rolling Stones "Angie" ;-)

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    1. I wish we'd have thought of that, Philip! It would have been the perfect fade-out!

      You bring up an interesting point about breaking man's law versus God's law. In this case, of course, Patrick is mostly concerned about God's law ... which here is echoed by man's law in returning the child to her mother.

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    2. And I will sing it with feeling like Mick Jagger - "Angie" will have three syllables: Iiiiiii-in-jay!

      I love what you said here: God + me = a majority.

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  5. Okay I have seen it now. Wow.

    First off Ben Affleck should stay behind the camera. Never found him appealing as an actor, but Argo was great and so is this.

    Interesting just how much religious imagery is in this movie. Casey wearing a cross and I believe a miraculous medal was not accidental.

    What I liked most about this movie is that I didn't really find anything false in it as far as believability. I also really liked how the role of he conscience was center-stage. HIs regret over killing the child molester and the decision at the end. This was a grasping to do what is right, not what was easy. He is congratulated for what he regretted and punished for the decision that he choose in accord with his conscience.

    So thanks once again for introducing me to something I would have been sad to have missed out on.

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    1. Jeff, I'm so glad! I always just assume everyone has seen it, because at the time there was a lot of praise for the directing and Casey Affleck's acting. But, in fact, it took me years to get around to watching it myself.

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