MOVIE REVIEW - GONE GIRL Release Date: 02/10/14 Rating: MA15+ Director(s): David Fincher Stars: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, patrick Fugit, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Missy Pyle & Sela Ward Run Time: 149 min’s Score (out of 10): 9½ Just in case the likes of Se7en, Fight Club, The Social Network, Zodiac & TV’s House of Cards hadn’t already convinced us of David Fincher’s incredible talent as a director, we’re presented with Gone Girl. Based on the seriously popular 2012 novel of the same name, Gone Girl is a Hitchcockian Sleeping With The Enemy / Ace In The Hole / American Beauty / Fatal Attraction / The War of The Roses hybrid. Themes of marriage, infidelity, mass media hysteria, deception & guilt-until-proven-otherwise all get picked over in Fincher’s 2½ hour journey. We start out on the morning of Nick (Affleck) & Amy (Pike)’s 5th wedding anniversary - a joyous occasion, surely? Maybe in a different film with a different director. But in Fincher’s world, all is not as it 1st appears. After both losing their jobs, they relocated from the Big Apple to his home town of ‘Borings-ville’, Missouri. And whilst Nick & his twin-sister Margo (Coon, from TV’s The Leftovers) open a relatively successful bar in town, Amy is left alone in a suburban McMansion - far removed from the bright lights of NYC. Nick arrives home to discover a smashed coffee table & no wife. And it’s not too long before the lead detective (Dickens) suspects foul play on Nick’s behalf … which in turn leads to Amy’s parents assuming the same … which then leads to a media circus of ridiculous proportions. From here, we slowly discover the truth - but in bite size pieces via flashbacks / voice-over narratives from our not-so-happily-married couple. I’ll leave the synopsis there for the benefit of those who haven’t read the book. I don’t know what impact the slow & eventual reveal had on readers of the source novel, but having not read it, I was totally blown away by the unfolding story & the way it’s delivered. This is one of those flicks where everyone brings their “A” game; or to quote The Lego Movie, “everything is awesome”!! From Gillian Flynn who wrote both the novel & then adapted it for the screen; to Fincher, to his long-time cinematographer, to Aussie editor Kirk Baxter through to the everyone-nails-it cast. I don’t think Affleck has ever been better; & Pike is perfect as the ice-queen wife. Coon finds just the right mix of sass, empathy, fire & a droll sense of humour. Perry, who I barely recognised out of his Madea drag costume is also excellent in a smallish role as Nick’s lawyer; & Dickens & Fugit as the detectives are also strong. My only initial quibble was with the film’s ending. Whilst I don’t need everything wrapped up in a ribbon, I left the cinema just wanting a touch more. But the remaining 99.5% of Gone Girl is just so satisfying that my small quibble really is just that. And having had a few days pass now, I’m less hung up on that ending & am just embracing the incredible ride the film overall took me on. See it alone; or with someone you truly love … just not with a partner you might be having a few issues with - they’ll get way too many ideas!!
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 04:34:50 +0000
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