Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

The desperately sad coincidence of the Madeleine McCann story delayed this film's release, but it is just that, a coincidence – one that in no way diminishes the impact of Ben Affleck's brilliant debut in this story (like Mystic River, based on a novel by Dennis Lehane) which has won a whole clutch of critics' awards in America.

Set in a tough Irish-American district of Boston, private investigators are brought in to help the local cops in their search for abductors and drug money. Affleck coaxes brilliant performances from brother Casey, Amy Ryan, Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris in particular, but the whole cast underlines the virtue of his excellent attention to authenticity. Even so, it's moral ambiguity that steals the show.