Year: 2014
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Gillian Flynn (screenplay/novel)
Stars: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler
Perry, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens
“Gone Girl” is a movie that reminds
us that David Fincher is one of the very best directors working today. He is
back on form with a haunting, visceral and stylized retelling of the Gillian
Flynn’s novel of the same name. Writers often fail to adapt their own books for
the screen, but Flynn did a fantastic job unifying all threads of the intricate
story into a coherent script.
The movie tells the story (or rather “stories”)
of Nick Dunne (portrayed by Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike). The
mystery starts on the day of the couple’s fifth anniversary when Nick finds out
that his wife is gone. As the plot unfolds he becomes the center of media
speculations and his life turns upside down when he becomes the main suspect.
But while we see his version of the story, we also get the chance to peek into
Amy’s thoughts almost entirely via her diary entries.
What Fincher and Flynn did so well is
presenting us with two points of view, both not entirely truthful, both keeping
parts of the story in mystery. And that’s truly revealing, especially after we
find out who’s the “worse half”. The relativity of the truth is highlighted in
a scene where Nick Dunne insist on telling the “true” story and quickly gets corrected
– it’s “your” story. “Gone Girl” works perfectly as a thriller – it is atmospheric,
suspenseful and brutal when it needs to be. But the best thing is that it’s so
much more. A social commentary, a character study, an exercise in style, a treatise
on marriage…
In many ways “Gone Girl” is a film
about image – the image we create for ourselves, the way our loved ones see us,
the labels society gives us, the distorted personality that media can create and
destroy within a few hours for us. All the roles we assume in order to function
in society could easily distort our perception of reality and ourselves. In “Gone
Girl” Rosamund Pike struggles to achieve the perfect image of “The Amazing Amy”
– a fictional character her mother wrote a series of popular books about. And as
she says in the movie, “Amazing Amy” had always been one step ahead of her,
always perfect, always better. How do you keep up with that? Amy sometimes even
speaks as if she’s a fictional character and she might as well do what any true
dramatic hero might do in a classic play. Amy is beautiful, rich, extremely
intelligent and still her life is not always perfect. Surely, in “Gone Girl”
this problem is explored in its extremities, but in modern society the image,
the idea of the perfect job, the perfect family, the requisite success can often
become the basis for extreme egoism, apathy, depression and all kinds of psychosis.
Just like in “Nightcrawler” – the hero is the product of the society he/she
lives in.
SLIGHTLY SPOILERY PARAGRAPH:
What are the social expectations for
the perfect woman, for the perfect wife? One thing is for sure - these are some
of the factors that create the Amy we see by the end of the movie. That’s why I
don’t think that “Gone Girl” is in any way misogynistic, because how could Amy exist
the way she is and get away with the things she does, if she didn’t live in a
society with established stereotypes for women that she clearly takes
advantage of: the stupid, but beautiful girlfriend, the accommodating wife, the
helpless mother, the victim? Besides, it’s absolutely entertaining to see all these
concepts turn around by the end.
On the other hand, Ben Affleck’s character
is also exposed to social preconceptions – he is supposed to be “the provider”
in the marriage, he is more likely to be aggressive and should feel oppressed
because he doesn’t have the outstanding education his wife has. Thus, “Gone
Girl” explores both sides of what marriage “should” be and the image it has to adhere
to. Further on, the film shows how easily media (particularly TV news) can
manipulate any story and any “image”, completely turning around the opinion we
have for someone and even profoundly affecting their life.
“Gone Girl” has one of the most
magnetic, complex and unique characters we’ve seen this year and one of the
very few strong female characters in cinema. Gillian Flynn gave life to a hero
that’s anything, but the typical female from either criminal or love stories.
And Rosamund Pike made this extraordinary, bigger-than-life character appear absolutely
authentic and captivating. She can simultaneously make us hate her and be
sympathetic with her, while preserving the mystery and the wonder of the
character. It is definitely a stunning Oscar-worthy performance. Everybody else
in the movie also does a good job, but it’s her movie from beginning to end.
Only Neil Patrick Harris, who plays Desi, doesn’t seem entirely in place. His
acting is fine, but he is in the role of a rich stylish man, that inevitably
reminds you of Barney (I guess it’s ok if you haven’t seen “How I met your
mother”, but it got me out of the movie at times).
The entire film, not surprisingly,
looks great. The attention to detail, characteristic for any film by Fincher,
and Jeff Cronenweth’s work on the cinematography create a stunning atmosphere. Cronenweth
had two Oscar nominations for David Fincher’s films (“The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo” and “The Social Network”) and he’s certainly keeping up. For the last a
couple of films Fincher has also developed a symbiotic relationship with Trent
Reznor and Atticus Ross. Reznor’s music seems to be the perfect addition to
Fincher’s images. The minimalistic soundtrack for “Gone Girl” is just as
mysterious, elegant and atmospheric as the movie itself and it perfectly complements
the mood without being obtrusive. It gently seeps into the subconsciousness
like a perfume and blood scented mist. It does its magic in the background and you
don’t even realize when it’s present.
The movie has 8,5 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/?ref_=nv_sr_1
8,2 from users and 79 from critics on
MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/gone-girl
88% on RottenTomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_girl/
Trailer:
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