"Gone Girl" Review

Title: Gone Girl

Directed by: David Fincher

Screenplay by: Gillian Flynn

Year: 2014

When I first saw the trailer for Gone Girl, I really liked it. It is one of my favorite trailers of 2014. And yet, I expected the film to be poor. As great as the trailer was, I expected the movie to fall flat. I am glad to say that I was completely and utterly wrong.

Gone Girl is based on the book of the same name by Gillian Flynn, who also wrote the screenplay. Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home to find that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing. He calls the police to investigate her disappearance and they uncover some strange clues and leads. However, Nick's behavior is too odd and out of place to ignore, and some of the clues lead directly to him, which begs the question; did he have something to do with his wife's disappearance and possible murder?

Ben Affleck stars as Nick Dunne and he absolutely nails the part. Nick comes across as a very complex man. He seems genuine enough in his efforts to find his wife, but his behavior is not at all in concordance. For instance, after speaking to the press about his wife, they begin taking pictures of him next her photograph...and he smiles. Who smiles in such a situation? Affleck once again demonstrates that he is one of the best actors in the business by embodying a character that is both the protagonist and the possible villain of the piece. However, he is not the only stellar casting choice in this movie. Rosamund Pike gives a career-best performance as "Amazing Amy". She plays a large role in the movie even though she has disappeared. Pike transcends her previous performances ten-fold in this film. I cannot say much about her acting without spoiling the majority of the film, but she is absolutely "amazing". Neil Patrick Harris plays Desi, a man who has been obsessed with Amy since high school. He gives an unsettling performance but the best part about the character is how he is handled. Usually, these obsessed characters are shown to be living in their mother's basement or are just failures in life. Desi on the other hand, is extremely successful, being incredibly wealthy and having more character traits than just simply being obsessed with Amy. This is good character writing. Tyler Perry is also surprisingly good as Tanner Bolt, Nick's attorney. Perry gives a standout performance amongst his filmography, which might not be saying much, but his acting is leaps and bounds better than anything else he has done. Another good addition to the cast is Carri Coone as Nick's twin. She provides a very human element to the film and is arguably the heart of the story.

The cast is solid, but how is the story? Equally so. Gone Girl is a psychological thriller/mystery-investigation with a complex yet understandable plot. The story leans a little more towards a slower pace but it benefits the film immensely. It keeps the audience on edge, impatiently awaiting to know what happens next. What does this clue mean? What does it lead to? Did Nick really do it? Gone Girl is constantly engaging, and its slow pace and long running time (almost two and a half hours) allows for every moment to sink in with the audience and deliver some genuine chills and thrills. The story also heavily relies on plot twists, and they all pay off well. This movie is not predictable by any means, thanks to these surprises and its original script. The screenplay is well polished and all its plot strands are interwoven beautifully. The fact that it was also written by the author of the original book is sure to please the book aficionados.

The music is also fantastic. Though it is not very diverse between the individual tracks, the music succeeds in providing a dark, eerie, and chilling tone. Each track immediately sets the atmosphere and contributes magnificently to the diegesis of the movie. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross really knock it out of the park here. David Fincher's direction is excellent, but that is to be expected of him. Fincher is right at home with this material. His direction gives Gone Girl a very distinguished look and feel from any other film in the past year. Every shot has meaning and is relevant to the story. For as long as the film is, not a single scene is wasted. Fincher is also a perfectionist. He will have actors do a single take hundreds of times to get his exact vision. This is clearly shown in Gone Girl as never did I think to say, "Oh maybe they could have done that scene a little better." Fincher makes sure that everything meets his vision perfectly, and he succeeds in this endeavor.

This film is also a critique on modern day media. A big portion of Gone Girl has to do with how the news is handling the situation; what they are reporting, how they are portraying the situation, what they are saying about Nick, and so forth. There is one particular woman who is completely adverse to Nick and paints him as the criminal. Whether this is true or not, she doesn't know all the facts and she certainly has no involvement in the case. However, her viewers believe her and suddenly Nick becomes the most hated man in the country. This illustrates how easily the media influences society into believing a certain perspective without much information. In addition, Gone Girl is a social commentary on the modern day relationship, and it outright satirizes it brilliantly.

Gone Girl is a tightly and smartly written investigative thriller with a very strong cast, an excellent screenplay, and perfect direction. The story is engaging and takes very surprising twists and turns. The slow pace works well for the film thanks to the editing department. The music is chilling and sets the mood for the movie incredibly well. Gone Girl, though heavy on plot twists, holds up very well on repeat viewings and makes for a very enjoyable, if tense, watch.

Grade: A