Philosophical Analysis of 'Gone Baby Gone'

The age old question of ethical ambiguity is something that humanity may never resolve. Conflicting morals and the ultimate question of “is what I’m doing right?” is one of the greatest human mysteries. Philosophers, psychiatrists and every individual on the planet must grapple with this moral confusion in an attempt to find unique solutions to everyday dilemmas. In Affleck’s drama Gone Baby Gone, two very notable philosophies collide head on, and the protagonist must choose between the two to find the solution that he feels is ‘right.’
In Affleck’s brilliantly rendered drama Gone Baby Gone, a young girl is abducted from her mother, in a blue collar area of Boston, Massachusetts. Patrick Kenzie and his girlfriend are private investigators who are called in by the sister-in-law of the abducted childs mother. The neighborhoods in Boston where this crime took place are infamous for their resistance to police operations. Similar to residents of Southie (South Boston,) Dorchester residents keep matters to themselves. With the help of Patrick, he is able to use his status as a private investigator to get information from his local contacts. He finds out Helene was not at home when Amanda was abducted, but was in fact snorting cocaine at a local bar with her boyfriend Skinny Ray. Further information is discovered that Helene and Ray had brought Amanda with them on a drug run into New Hampshire. The police raided their accomplices, leaving the three with the money. Helene tells her boss, the Haitan drug lord Cheese, that the money was taken. In reality, she buried the money in Ray’s backyard in Chelsea. When Kenzie and the two detectives working with him figure this out and arrive in Chelsea, they find Ray brutally murdered, presumably by Cheese. Kenzie meets with Cheese and arranges a meet at a quarry in Quincy. Amanda appears to have been pushed off a ledge and dies. As a result of this, the police captain Doyle retires, claiming responsibility. Several months