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Gone Baby GoneMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Gone Baby Gone."
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Metascore®72 out of 100 | Generally favorable reviews

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 91
    The Onion (A.V. Club) | Scott Tobias

    Though its procedural goes a little soft in the middle, Gone Baby Gone quietly accumulates in power, leading to one of the more subtly devastating final shots in recent memory. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The result is a superior police procedural, and something more -- a study in devious human nature. Read full review

  • 88
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    There is a compelling ethical question raised skillfully that will haunt viewers. The poignant conclusion probably will incite debate. Read full review

  • 88
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    Gone Baby Gone is powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter | Stephen Farber

    It's a tribute to this thoughtful, deeply poignant, splendidly executed film that we replay the conclusion in our minds long after the lights come on. Read full review

  • 80
    Village Voice | Jim Ridley

    In his strikingly downbeat directorial debut, Affleck has created something of a blue-moon rarity: an American movie of genuine moral complexity. Read full review

  • 80
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    One of the graces of Gone Baby Gone is its sensitivity to real struggle, to the lived-in spaces and worn-out consciences that can come when despair turns into nihilism. Read full review

  • 70
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    By and large a notable piece of work, a strong directing debut by actor Ben Affleck that highlights attention-getting performances...But, as adapted from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this brooding, somber film is also ragged around the edges and not without problematic aspects. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Lisa Nesselson

    Moral ambiguity is the real star of Ben Affleck's helming debut, Gone Baby Gone, an involving Boston-set tale of mixed motives, selflessness and perfidy in the wake of a 4-year-old girl's disappearance. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Affleck the director shows excellent instincts, not least of which is letting his younger brother, Casey, hold the center as a young guy not as smaht as he thinks he is. Read full review

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