Casey Affleck plays a young detective hired to find a woman’s abducted niece. But his partner/wife is reluctant to take the case because she doesn’t want to be the one to find a dead girl in a dumpster somewhere. After seeing the girl’s picture, they break down and take the three-day old case.
The movie’s title unfairly casts a negative shadow on an otherwise brilliant film. Superbly acted with a cast that includes Morgan Freeman as a police captain and Ed Harris as lead police detective, the film also introduces a host of virtual unknowns who deliver characters right off the streets of Boston.
This is a powerful film that asks difficult questions that, for all of us, lie on the fringe of our moral compass. Situations are introduced that force viewers to look inside themselves and choose sides. But be careful, you may find yourself mired in a morally gray swamp.
The ending of the film will haunt you for weeks. It is carefully written to deliver maximum emotional impact and wastes not a single moment. The last word, although some thirty seconds before the film ends, will leave you devastated and heart-broken.
I give major kudos to Ben Affleck for directing what I consider to be one of the best films of 2007. And amazingly, it was also written by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard. This makes up for Daredevil and Gigli.
To call this film “powerful” is an understatement.
Verdict: 
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Written by: Ben Affleck , Aaron Stockard
Starring: Casey Affleck , Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Amy Madigan,
Other Movie Sites: IMDB , Rotten Tomatoes