Gone Baby Gone (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

With so much going right, the pressure mounts to have a big finish, and in this department the film is only partially successful. There's a twist that most people won't see coming, but the film loses its strong dramatic tension near the end when it becomes too talky, explicative, and unnecessarily moralizing. Come on. We get it. There's no need to beat us over the head with long monologues. But that's the only major misstep I found in this otherwise taut investigative thriller. And for the squeamish, know that it's not as gruesome as it could have been.

Video:
My Samsung BD-P1400 had another moment early in the film when it scrambled the picture briefly, but other than that the playback was fine. "Gone Baby Gone" is a dark film in spots, and you don't see as much of the detail in shadows as you do in some of the best Blu-rays. But the colors seem appropriately saturated to match the drab world of Dorchester and the more vibrant world of clubs and their druggie clientele. The 1080p picture is presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, stretched to fill out the whole 16x9 screen but with no edge distortion to speak of. Overall, the picture looks very good--even for a Blu-ray.

Audio:
The PCM audio, as is often the case, is even better. The English PCM (48kHz/24-bit) soundtrack is clear and rich, with a nice distribution across the speakers. There's no competition among the dialogue, music, and FX, with each seeming natural-sounding in relation to the others. It's amazing what sound technicians can do these days to reproduce gunfire so it sounds as if somebody just walked into your house and pulled the trigger. Great soundtrack overall. Additional options are English, French, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras:
Maybe I expected too much, but I was disappointed by Ben Affleck's commentary track, which he shared with co-screenwriter Aaron Stockard (who was a production assistant on "Good Will Hunting"). Though the pair give plenty of technical details, what I wanted most--anecdotes and comparisons to the novel--were in shorter supply. In many spots, their commentary was downright dull, too. If Affleck does go on to make a second Kenzie and Gennaro film, I hope he invites Lehane to share the commentary microphone.

There's not much more in the way of bonus features. Six deleted/extended scenes are worth watching once, but while it's interesting to see that Affleck abandoned a voiceover ending in favor of the one he gives us, we could have been told that just as easily as shown it. Better are two bonus features that come in under 10 minutes each. In "Going Home: Behind the Scenes with Ben Affleck," the affable Ben takes us on a tour of the neighborhood and points out different sites. In "Capturing Authenticity: Casting 'Gone Baby Gone,'" Affleck talks about his casting choices. Both featurettes are informative and entertaining.

There are no Blu-ray exclusive features.

Bottom Line:
Except for a didactic and overly self-conscious ending, "Gone Baby Gone" is a solid private detective story that in my book ranks right up there with the top films in the genre.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---