Gone Girl is a mystery-thriller from director David Fincher [Fight Club, The Social Network], and is based on the best selling 2012 novel of the same name and adapted by Gillian Flynn.
It stars Ben Affleck as Nick Dunn who after his wife’s disappearance has become the focus of an intense media circus who sees the spotlight turned on on him when its suspected he may not be innocent.
Gone Girl: The Good
Gone Girl is the perfect project for David Fincher and therefore makes for a great movie, its dark, stylish, twisted and violent and goes to some darker places than David Fincher explored in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake in 2013.
Ben Affleck is great in the lead role as “Nick Dunn”, a normal everyday guy who comes home to find his wife is missing. Its a great role as you don’t know whether to trust the guy of not and when there is a shot of him standing next to a missing persons poster of his wife with a smile on his face you think he may be guilty.
Rosamund Pike player Nick’s wife, “Amy” who portrays the perfect “cool girl”, funny, smart and strong. But also has different layers of her own and throughout the movie they start to unravel.
Gone Girl is a clever thriller as there is so many twists and turns and different layers as it starts off as a intriguing mystery thriller, in the middle the film turns to a Law and Order style courtroom drama. Then the final act turns into a satire that you could find on TV on an afternoon.
Gone Girl has a smartly written screenplay with great performances from the two leads and who should receive Oscar praise when awards season arrives. There is also slick editing and smart cinematography from Fincher regular Jeff Cronenweth who has worked with David Fincher on his previous films like Fight Club, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Gone Girl: The Bad
Gone Girl does manage to cram a lot in its lengthy running time but does drag at times, especially towards the 3rd act where it does feel like it won’t end.
Conclusion:
Overall, Gone Girl the film is a stylish, twisted and engrossing thriller that features two great lead performances from Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. The film is more enjoyable for people who haven’t read the book, who can therefore savor all the twists and the complex story of marriage and love in todays society.
