Gone Baby Gone

Robert Farley really nails my sentiments precisely. I'll just say it's too bad, because until the movie entered Plot Twist Land it was quite good if not quite as groundbreaking as it seemed to think it was. I think Ben Affleck may have more promise as a director than as an actor. He's just going to need to find himself a story that makes some sense on some level.

Meanwhile, the film also features Michael Williams (i..e, Omar from The Wire) in a small part and I have to say that while I wish him well I think his career's going to be hurt by the fact that he has this giant scar on his face. For the Omar character, of course, that works great. But in his Gone Baby Gone role it implies some dramatic scar-creating backstory that the script doesn't cash out in any way. And why should it? After all, relatively few characters have a giant facial scar as part of their backstory. But it totally dominates his face

Comments

A little Tommy Flanagan anyone?

Posted by Herb | October 27, 2007 11:13 AM

R Kelly was able to feature Williams and his scar pretty well in Trapped in the Closet without the need for any sort of developed back story.

Though approaching R's video genius is certainly a tall order for mere mortal writer-directors.

Posted by Dave | October 27, 2007 11:47 AM

Huh ? As Eastwood movies go, Mystic River was quite a flop.

The ending, and lines uttered there, are ridiculous.

Posted by David | October 27, 2007 12:20 PM

I haven't seen Gone Baby Gone, but I wanted to lend my thoughts on your comment about Michael Williams. I don't think his scar will hurt his career. The fact that they tried to explain the scar in this movie sounds odd. I don't think it has to be explained.

I do see your point though. "Hollywood" likes to keep actors in a particular role once they've shown success in it. He and most of the GREAT black actors from the Wire (including the kids) are already typecast due to the exceptional work done in the show (And I'm speaking of the true actors, not the discoveries that David Simon & crew have made along the way). We see them in Network shows as Urban cops or other thugs or troubled kids. I'm sure for these characters it is a catch-22; they need to work, but true actors like to stretch themsselves. Irdis Elba has been most successful, but I think that his International background gives him a eddge that the American black actors don't have. Wendell Pierce is able to get roles on network TV as well (although usually guest spots), but he's been doing so LONG before The Wire came along.

Anyway, back to Williams, his scar magnifies that. I can even recall and OLD Law & Order epi with him as a convict in jail WITH BRACES -- too funny. I think that's his biggest battle, not his scar, to push casting directors to allow him to audition and take roles beyond the current vision for him. Unfortunately that is more representative of the lack of imagination of "Hollywood" and not his skills as an actor.

Posted by Robyn | October 27, 2007 1:10 PM

Hang on, it thought it was groundbreaking? I mean, I liked it, it was well done and engaging, but . . .

(If you ask me, there are two missing females in the film - that is, the bit about Michelle Monaghan's part apparently being written for the female lead from Lars and the Real Girl, though she does as well as one could expect given the material - but hey . . .)

I do have to say though,the '...wait' scene is something I'd rather not have in my head.

Posted by Dan S. | October 27, 2007 2:25 PM

I haven't seen it but isn't Beadie Russell in it too?

Posted by berger | October 27, 2007 3:34 PM

Saw it last night. Good, but not great. However, I'm still scratching my head at Kenzie's wonderment over Bressant's exotic French surname - this in a town where you can't flick a butt out the window without hitting a French-Canadian. This lack of cultural awareness colored my perception of the character for the rest of the show. Was this intentional? Hey, Kenzie, you retahded or something?

Posted by blowtoad | October 27, 2007 4:47 PM

Best not be hearing you say anything untoward about Omar .....

Posted by DCBob | October 28, 2007 12:32 PM

I had no desire to see GBG, because Mystic River was so bad, UNTIL YOU SAID THAT [the dude that plays] OMAR WAS IN IT. He can do no wrong.

Posted by Phoebe | October 28, 2007 11:55 PM

Not come off as a crank, but Williams issues have nothing to do with his scar and everything to do with his skin tone and how "The Wire" is seen by the Hollywood gods. He's a superb actor with no suction in an industry that doesn't even know how to respond to a show with three dimensional black characters. Wait a minute. I take that back. Liberal Hollywood can only respond with silence.

Okay. I've made myself bitter beyond measure. Time for an all night session of season three of "The Wire."

Posted by James | October 29, 2007 8:46 PM