Gone Girl review

Gone+Girl+review

Going into Gone Girl I had high expectations, very, very high expectations.  David Fincher’s Filmography is loaded with great films such as, Fight Club, Se7en, and most recently The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. His movies have always had a great rhythm to them, and I was worried that this would be his first to flop for me. The film had so much going for it before I had even planted myself in my seat. A stacked cast, score composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (who had previously teamed up on Fincher’s The Social Network) and a brilliant screenplay written by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl: 2012 Novel)

Well, I am glad to say my worries were entirely unwarranted.

Fincher’s knack for timing is apparent throughout the entire film, and is complimented by fantastic imagery. Reznor/Ross’s subtle yet haunting compositions offer the perfect background for the continuously building story. The Reznor styling is easily heard, and that is most certainly not a bad thing.

The film stars Ben Affleck (Argo) and Rosamund Pike (Pride and Prejudice) as Nick and Amy Dunne, both writers, both good looking, and possibly the world’s “perfect” couple.  Within the first 10 minutes the story is set into motion with Affleck’s character’s discovery of his wife’s disappearance. The audience is left to their own devices to contemplate each minor detail, and watch as their assumptions are disproved again and again as the plot unfolds.

The movie is portrayed beautifully back and forth between Affleck’s character’s real time struggles, and Pike’s character’s soft flashbacks to a time without doubt, without suffering, and without stress.  As I watched, I waited for these flashbacks, as they provided the best information for my own explanation to what was really going on, and just as I had made up my mind, my presumptions would be crushed, leaving me to start the cycle over and go through every little fact.  By the end of the movie my eyes were darting around the screen looking for as many clues as I could find to help me get ahead of the storyline. I am not disappointed at all to say the movie was quicker than I in most cases, and kept the surprises rolling throughout.

Both Affleck and Pike fit their roles like a glove, and their delivery was easy proof of that.  Affleck’s character was both loved and hated at times, but brought out the best emotion possible for each scene.  The film’s strong supporting cast shared exceptional performances, with Neil Patrick Harris and Carrie Coon (Both Tony Nominated Broadway Performers) giving their best dramatic showings yet, and a surprising accomplishment by Tyler Perry in a rare appearance in which he did not direct.

All of the talent in Gone Girl, pushed this movie into one of this year’s best.  Without spoiling too much, Pike’s rendition of Amy Dunne is one of the best female leads I have ever seen. Her soft delivery sent chills down my spine and kept me sucked in with every line. I will definitely be looking for Pike’s name on the Oscar ballots come the end of the year, she is that good.

Overall Gone Girl is easily one of the best films of the year, and is without question worth the price of a movie ticket.