Gone baby gone
Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris
Four-year-old Amanda McCready is abducted and the police are nonplussed. Captain Jack Doyle (Freeman), who is leading the investigation, admits time is running out. He is aware that by the end of day one, only 10 per cent of all kidnapping cases are solved.
When rookie private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) and his girlfriend Angie Gennaro (Monaghan) are persuaded to join the search by the girl's aunt and uncle, it's day 3. Residents of the rough Boston neighbourhood, the duo hope to get information from people they've known for years, who would talk to them rather than the cops.
Amanda's mother Helene (Amy Ryan) is against the new recruits and makes this clear in a dramatic scene peppered with expletives. Veteran police detective Remy Bressant (Harris) is also unhappy to work with the youngsters.
Patrick and Gennaro find out that Helene is a drug addict and has been lying to the police. She is also involved with a couple of seedy characters. Questioned about her connection with a drug dealer, Helene reluctantly reveals she is a mule who fled with $130,000 after a botched delivery.
The kidnapping it seems is an act of vengeance. A deal to swap Amanda for the money is arranged, but it goes awry as the dealer is shot dead and the girl is apparently thrown into a waterlogged quarry. Her body is not found, a death certificate is issued to Helene in due course, and Doyle granted the dignity of early retirement. The story should end there. But a year later another child is abducted, which leads to startling revelations and a surprise ending you might find difficult to accept.
This is Ben Affleck's first effort at direction and is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River. Performance by the stellar cast too will meet your expectations.
Rating: 15.
Underdog
Cast: Jason Lee (voice), Alex Neuberger, Jim Belushi, Amy
Adams (voice)
It's a bird! It's a plane. It's a frog! No, no, no. It's Underdog. Superman with a flea collar.
Based on a popular '60s cartoon series of the same name, Underdog features a canine (voiced by Lee) who doesn't hesitate to claim that he's the best.
Quitting the police force with his tail between his legs after raising a false alarm, our hero is picked up from the street by the Growth Research Institute. Here the evil Dr Barsinister (Peter Dinklege) is experimenting on dogs to create a breed that will help him become the master of the realm.
But Underdog (as he will be later known) unwittingly destroys Barsinister's lab as he tries to avoid a jab of human DNA, and in the process is zapped by rays that give him superpowers and the ability to talk. On the streets again, this time he is picked up by Dan Unger (Belushi), a guard at the institute, as a pet for his disillusioned son Jack (Neuberger).
As Jack discovers his new friend's abilities, the world gets a new hero, another caped crusader. Meanwhile, Barsinister has not given up his plans. But can he outwit Underdog?
Rating: G.
