No doubt the age old argument of which is better, the book or the movie will crop up time and time again with the arrival of David Fincher’s take on Gillian Flynn’s best seller, Gone Girl. Expect to have some argument though as Fincher and his cast Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are firing on a serious amount of cylinders. And for those of you who haven’t read the book, don’t worry. You’re in for a treat!
On his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) calls the police and reports his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike) , has gone missing. With the police almost immediately suspecting Dunne and a growing media frenzy, Nick Dunne’s near perfect life soon starts to unravel and everyone (including you) will ask: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?
Like it’s source material, this is a real “page” turner. David Fincher spins an incredibly intricate web here, intersecting the past and the present as the movie belts along until the first big twist. And while the web spinning gets a bit more simplistic and methodical in the second act, Gone Girl, is a gripping piece of cinema. Yes, it’s a real case of did he really kill his wife for much of the movie, and with Affleck putting in a seriously good performance here, you’ll be on the edge of your seat. With an impeccably well balanced first half, the audience is completely sucked into the world of this seemingly happy couple and when things start going bad, you’ll have long since picked which side you’re on.
Alongside Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck (looking rather buffed up for Batman v Superman) delivers an incredibly solid performance here. He walks an incredibly fine line at times and there is some serious acting prowess on display during a scene with his lawyer (played by Tyler Perry) who is coaching him on how and what to say for a television interview. While it’s only a small scene, it delivers some heavy acting on Affleck’s behalf as he chops and changes his demeanour at ease. And when the truth comes out about Amy’s disappearance in the second act, Affleck really turns things up to 11. Rosamund Pike is also fantastic here, delivering a career best performance as a wife that completely detests her husband’s habits and lack of culture but remains his loyal and loving other half. She is utterly convincing here as the movie progresses she just gets better and better.
Unfortunately, the third act will leave audiences a little bit disappointed and deflated. While the movie doesn’t end as abruptly as the book, the movie expands things a bit more and as a result the third act is nowhere near as satisfying as the first two. It’s almost too much of a good thing in the finale and a more abrupt ending would have been far more powerful. However, Gone Girl still leaves a helluva mark. With one twist in particular requiring some amount of time to pick you jaw up off the floor, the twists, while on occasion walking a fine line of predictable or not, provide ample amounts of entertainment.
While not without it’s faults, Gone Girl is a gripping piece of cinema that will have you on the edge of your seat for the majority of it’s 140 odd minute running time. It’s stylish and demented in places, incredibly immersive and is most definitely worth a watch, just don’t fall off the edge of your seat!
