Gone Girl ****
Imagine the person you thought you knew best was not that person at all. It’s the perfect screenplay twist to what is essentially wrapped up in a standard missing person’s crime drama. Added to which, this mystery, Gone Girl, is directed by none other than Se7en director David Fincher, a master of the downbeat, edgy and moody cinematic screen. What fans of the 2012 best-selling Gillian Flynn novel of the same name should know is the author and screenwriter has rewritten the book’s ending, supposedly to better ‘fit’ to the whole sordid situation. It makes for uncomfortable but engaging viewing.
After bar owner Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) gets a morning call to say his front door has been left open, he returns home to discover his living room in disarray and his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has vanished. Nick’s world is then turned upside down as her disappearance is investigated and he becomes the prime suspect amid an intense media circus.
Fincher favours his somber palette throughout, creating a feeling of foreboding before there is anything to feel wary about. We are instantly put in the mindset that the outcome is going to be bleak. The intriguing thing is, there is a mounting suspense within a calm and controlled pace that is brought to fruition by punctuated moments of action. In a sense, it’s contrary to the urgency of finding the missing person. In fact, the ‘momentum’ is actually provided by the growing media frenzy – Dunne himself has a rather non-proactive attitude that seems strange considering his spouse is missing. It’s these contradictions that keep things alert.
Affleck is well cast as Dunne, a tired guy who’s aspirations have long been shattered and the chance of an ‘easier lifestyle’, downsizing to his hometown from NYC, broken as his ghosts come back to haunt. Affleck delivers ‘average, ordinary guy’ easily, one with obvious faults so that we can judge then doubt him but also sympathise.
However, the real surprise delight is Pike. Having read the book, this critic had initial reservations about her in the role; could she convey a satisfactory darker side that the part needed? She has probably delivered one of her finest acting moments, playing with our ingrained perceptions of her capable, likeable personality then taking us down a deeper, darker path as Amy. Being apt at portraying a natural reserve, Pike demonstrates an exciting new niche here for more sinister roles. Her moment of triumph as Amy is actually the very end as we’re still left mesmerized by what could happen next?
In this regard, the new finale should not disappoint fans – it could be argued the novel’s ending was too much of a reveal into Amy’s mental state. This one leaves things more ambiguous and threatening.
Gone Girl makes for a perfect screen adaptation as we doubt and redoubt events and character motives. It’s provocative and suggestive but never as dull as any wait to find a loved one would be in reality. You won’t particularly like anybody in this film at the end of it, but you will sympathise with certain elements of their struggle. With Fincher at the helm, the material gets extra malice injected.
4/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
by lgileskeddie
