First, I really enjoyed it. The acting and the “feel” were really good.
OPEN SPOILERS after the OP! …
[spoiler] I don’t understand the plot. Why did Freeman’s character have the girl? Was he in on the original part about getting the money, but then only took the girl when the plan went to bust because he felt he could give her a new life?
Otherwise it all made sense where low life and crooked cops decide they can make an easy score, only to have it foiled by the wife/aunt. But the whole part with Freeman’s character getting the girl has me stumped. [/spoiler]
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, but I thought it was because he thought he could give the child a better home. After years of seeing the neglect kids go through; he finally decided he was going to give one of them a better life.
I guess my confusion came when it was revealed that the cops threw the doll and a rock into the quarry. This would suggest that Freeman knew about the plan all along and had already decided to keep the girl?
So him stepping down from the force was something he knew was going to happen?
There’s something I’m not getting, and doing a bad job describing what that something is.
I also haven’t seen it in a while but I don’t remember having a problem with it. The situation with Freeman was what was best for the girl and for Freeman. But it was against the law and thats why Affleck could not let it be. His girlfriend did not agree and left him because of it. Freeman was in on it all along in order to give the girl a good life.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it and it was confusing. My take on it is that Morgan Freeman was in on the phony kidnapping but not the plot to get the money.
I think when the uncle found out about the child’s mother stealing the drug lord’s money (and putting the child in danger), he saw that he could kill two birds – get some money for himself and put the child in a good home.