[Movie Review] Gone Girl (2014)
Plot Summary: With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Gillian Flynn (screenplay & novel)
Runtime: 145 min
Main Cast:
- Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne
- Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne
- Neil Patrick Harris as Desi Collings
- Tyler Perry as Tanner Bolt
- Carrie Coon as Margo Dunne
Review: by Anthony and Lee
After seeing the trailer for Gone Girl, we were certain of one thing and one thing alone. Ben Affleck totally killed his wife. We were so intrigued by how and why. The trailer really did it's job because we were fascinated and had to see this movie.
In Gone Girl, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) is a journalist thrown into the media spotlight after his wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) goes missing, with the majority of public opinion casting her disappearance and alleged murder on Nick. Aided only by his sister Margo (Carrie Coon) and celebrity defense attorney Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry), Nick goes on a scavenger hunt to piece together clues to prove his innocence.
What We Liked:
This was one of the most delightfully, surprisingly good movies that we’ve seen in some time. We had middling expectations and thoughts going into this, but, after the 2nd plot twist, our interest doubled and tripled. The story was completely captivating. Just when we thought we had a firm handle on what was going on and what to expect to happen next, the movie smartly went in another direction.
The amazing screenplay came from Gillian Flynn who wrote the New York Times Best Selling novel Gone Girl. This trend of having the actual author of the novel that the movie is adapted from penning the screenplay has proven to be a great thing, which makes us wonder why it isn’t done more often. Who better to know the characters, their motivation, and which plot points to really drive home than the author of the novel? The way the movie looked at the evolution of a long term relationship was really interesting.
Speaking of the characters, there wasn’t a bad acting performance in any of the major characters.
Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne was terrific. He portrayed the perfect mix of jerk scumbag that deserved everything coming to him and innocent person (that suffered from jerk face) caught up in a bad situation. Some of the best scenes in the movie were where Affleck played the tug of war game for perceived innocence in the media. His performance really kept the suspense going.
As a side note, director David Fincher really had a lot of fun with those fake news show segments that painted an entire story and narrative with only the bare minimum of facts and evidence.
The true star of Gone Girl, however, was Rosamund Pike. Her portrayal of Amy Dunne was eerie at times. The narration from her private diary about her crumbling marriage and the fear she felt from her own husband were chilling, and the bitterness she brought out of her character, especially after learning about “Amazing Amy” and her relationship with her parents, was completely believable. However, her relationships with Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris) and Tommy (Scott McNairy) cast a whole new light on her character and how “Amazing” Amy was.
This movie was so good that even Tyler Perry couldn’t mess it up as big name defense attorney Tanner Bolt. Picture Perry as a male Gloria Allred or Al Sharpton type of character, always attached to high profile cases and making you wonder if they actually care about the people they represent or whether they’re just serving their own interests. Another great actor that showed up in Gone Girl was the legendary Neil Patrick Harris. Harris’s character was complex like many of the others in the movie. The way he brought this character to life extracted a gamut of emotions from us, from empathy to disgust to fear and back to a weird form of empathy in a strange cycle. Both Perry and Neil Patrick Harris play great complimentary roles to the powerhouse acting combo of Affleck and Pike.
What We Didn’t Like:
There wasn’t much that we didn’t like about Gone Girl aside from the ending. We haven’t read the novel, so we can’t say if this is how the novel ends as well, but it felt like a real resolution wasn’t reached. There easily could’ve been another 20 minutes of movie to wrap up more loose ends because there were things that were left to twist in the wind.
Summary
Gone Girl is a dark thriller, full of intrigue and great acting. Powered by a great screenplay from Gillian Flynn, author of the novel from which the movie was adapted, a more than capable director in David Fincher, and superb acting from Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl is a must see for all.
User Review
( votes)Images Courtesy of IMDB
