After feeling like I saw the Oscar winning Mystic River, a kidnap-thriller, taking place in Boston, based on a Dennis Lehane novel, not too long ago; Gone Baby Gone didn't seem appealing. It looked like pretty much the same thing, only it was directed by Ben Affleck, not Clint Eastwood, who I consider a bit of a film-making genius. Affleck, who after busting out on the scene, writing and starring in Good Will Hunting, had devolved into stumbling his way through some horrible big budget action flicks, then took a break for a few years. I didn't have much faith in his directing abilities based on that resume. But after receiving mostly rave reviews, I decided I should see it for myself.

The film is extremely similar to Mystic River, they shot in the same neighborhoods, featuring the same kind of characters. Only instead of seeing a kidnapping from the point-of-view of the father, we're seeing it from the investigator's. Casey Affleck, in possibly the performance of his life, plays Patrick Kenzie, a Southie-local with a knack for snooping. When the missing girl's parents hire him as a private investigator, he gets full access to the case and cooperation from the police, which they're initially not happy about. He has a checkered past, which helps him get information from the local lowlifes that won't talk to the cops. Along for the ride is his partner and girlfriend, played by Michelle Monagahan. They catch the scent of a trail and follow it to a local drug-dealer, who from the evidence they've collected, appears to be the kidnapper.

Just about when you think they have it all figured out, the film does a complete 180, leaving the viewer and the characters fully confused. It picks up a few months later, and they're no closer to the truth. They've been told to leave the case, but he's obsessed with figuring out what happened. Starting to respect him for his ruthlessness are a couple of cops, played by Ed Harris and character actor John Ashton. They bring him in on some other cases that may be involved with the kidnapping, where he gets into a few nasty situations, but finds some new clues and new suspects, leading him down a completely different path than before. This being a mystery-thriller, of course not all the characters are telling the truth, which leads to a bit of a surprise ending, and some major moral choices for Patrick.

After having some reservations about seeing this film, because of it's extreme similarities to Mystic River, I believe that Gone Baby Gone, is the superior film. The acting in both films is extremely well done, top-notch performances from everyone involved. But I think Gone, is a better focused, more entertaining film. Affleck's intimate knowledge of Boston, helps give the film a more of an insider's perspective, where Eastwood's seemed more stand-offish. They're both excellent films, you really couldn't go wrong with either one, and if you're into a depressing night with Boston, you could have a hell of a double feature. What makes the difference is, that I don't think I'll ever revisit Mystic River, but I can see giving Gone Baby Gone another viewing. Most of all, the film stands as an impressive directing debut for Ben Affleck, and I'm highly interested in seeing what film he does next. - Grade: B+

Did we really need another movie narrated by Morgan Freeman? I got sick of it about ten films ago. I can't even watch The Shawshank Redemption anymore, one of my favorite films, because I'm so tired of hearing Morgan's sweet voice explaining the meaning of it all. It's one of the thousands of lazy choices made in the making of The Bucket List.

It was a good idea to put Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson together in a film. They're two of the finest actors around, and they should have been great bouncing dialogue off of each other. Unfortunately they're both in paycheck mode, coasting through on their long established charms, not offering anything new or challenging. Their characters are supposed to be dying, but both look as healthy as a horse, fatter than ever really. Jack shaves his head, but he's so bald already, what does it matter?

I'm not going to bother with their character names here, because they didn't bother getting into character. - Jack's a rich, powerful womanizer of a man (what a stretch for him), who's found out he's dying of cancer. Morgan's a good man, a good husband, who always played everything straight (Also what a stretch!), who too has learned he's dying of cancer. And because the predictable script says so, they're put in a room together in the hospital that Jack owns. At first there's some cutesy "man" bickering. Then they become great friends, because neither has really ever had a great friend.

Morgan mentions this Bucket List idea, of doing all the things you wanted to do before you die, and Jack being extremely rich, funds them to go on a bunch of adventures together. We're supposed to find it highly hilarious, the sight of these two old guys jumping out of planes and driving cars really fast. Except that all the gags are so horribly executed that nothing drags out more than a slight chuckle.

There's this scene where Jack and Morgan are sitting on top of an Egyptian pyramid during sunset, of course, pouring their guts out, begging the audience to cry, but they're so obviously sitting in a studio, with an extremely fake backdrop of the pyramids behind them, probably thinking about taking a nap in their trailers; that you can't even begin to take it seriously. It would have been a thousand times more powerful, if they'd actually shot at the pyramids. And everywhere they go it looks like this. It could have been a great travelogue of a film, if they could have bothered to leave L.A., while also making their performances more believable.

This could have been a good film. It's a nice idea, two guys sharing their last few months alive together, doing all the things that they want to do. It could have been funny and bittersweet. I'm sure they were all thinking Oscar gold when they went into this, but everything about this film is so damn lazy. These legends; Jack, Morgan and director Rob Reiner are riding along in cruise control, hoping their combined greatness would give us something special, but ending up with poorly executed schlock instead. - Grade: D