Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Director: David Fincher
Author: Gillian Flynn
Release Date: October 3rd, 2014
Rating: 8.0 Out of 10
Rating: 8.0 Out of 10
With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
From the Book:
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
Review:
So I meant to do this earlier while the movie was fresh, but frankly it lasted longer and I had work to do attend to. Either way, Gone Girl was just mediocre, aside from the various nude scenes there just wasn't much to this movie that got viewers invested in the characters. However when you've read the book and see the glaring omissions, you wonder what David Finch was even thinking. There is just so many bare bones to the characters that's just not there to so their psyche and how they think that just lost me frankly I was never sold on the characters, aside one.
So first off I want to talk about what this movie did remind me of, I thought it was a lot like Fight Club, and frankly it was done by the same director (I realized this after looking it up). I will say the whole psychological thriller bit should have been there in Gone Girl, but it just fell too short. There's so much missing, so much mainly of Amy Dunne that's not there and of her parents, that you aren't completely sold on Nick or Amy. I never really saw Amy as this complete sociopath, more of a women who was just screwed up in the head and needed to be in an insane asylum, but never some murderous manipulative sociopath of a wife. It needed more, and David Finch should have addressed that, or maybe he does in an extended edition.
On to my favorite parts, the actors. My personal favorite in this isn't either of the main characters, but a supporting role, Carrie Coon as Margo Dunne. She had the one character that sold me through and through. She was so great in the role, so vulgar, and spoke the character's mind and while at times I found myself judging some of the actions to certain events, she just nailed it on others. I have to say she deserves a lot of credit for how great this movie turned out to be, because without her a lot of the value she added to the other characters wouldn't be there.
Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne was another role that suited this movie, while I don't think it was perfect, I don't see how anyone else could have done it anywhere near as well. He sold the whole rich man gone blue collar middle-class neighbor. Frankly his reactions, his emotions were so spot on, and most of the character flaws that I did see (that I didn't buy into) were the fact that an event or a part of the story got cut, it wasn't that he didn't play it right. I have to say the faults were mainly story driven errors not acting.
Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne, left me breathless. The rich girl that has a dark side, shines throughout this movie, and while again a lot was left out of here character, she just hammered what was there home. However, I wish a lot less of her nude was shown, frankly it got boring seeing her prancing about, but if you're going to see the movie for her naked, you're missing on so much more. I wanted to see more of Amy, see more of the story that was cut and buy into the character more, but it just wasn't there. The thrill and the psyche of Amy just fell too short in my opinion
So I will say this, while Neil Patrick Harris shows up as the stalker Desi Collings, he just falls so morbidly short it's not even funny. Neil isn't creepy looking, okay he nailed the rich guy, stuck up thing down, but the rest of his character was so off it made me angry. How can you do that to a character and not feel ashamed? I am not saying it's Neil's fault at all, but he just wasn't for that role and wouldn't have been on my first list at all. Where was Christian Bale, or Liam Hemsworth, or anyone else? He was the one grievous would to this movie that wouldn't stop bleeding.
In finality the movie was great, it was played well by the actors, but what plagued the movie was the bits they cut out. How some of the psychological understanding and getting invested into the characters was omitted was so wrong and insulting. I really wish this could be redone and something new could replace what I watched, because it's an utter insult to the book. The casting was right aside the one person, and even than I think it wasn't what killed the movie. Whoever decided what to omit and what to keep, needs a lesson in cinematography or just ask some people what should, but it just fell so short. I can only hope for better.
So first off I want to talk about what this movie did remind me of, I thought it was a lot like Fight Club, and frankly it was done by the same director (I realized this after looking it up). I will say the whole psychological thriller bit should have been there in Gone Girl, but it just fell too short. There's so much missing, so much mainly of Amy Dunne that's not there and of her parents, that you aren't completely sold on Nick or Amy. I never really saw Amy as this complete sociopath, more of a women who was just screwed up in the head and needed to be in an insane asylum, but never some murderous manipulative sociopath of a wife. It needed more, and David Finch should have addressed that, or maybe he does in an extended edition.
On to my favorite parts, the actors. My personal favorite in this isn't either of the main characters, but a supporting role, Carrie Coon as Margo Dunne. She had the one character that sold me through and through. She was so great in the role, so vulgar, and spoke the character's mind and while at times I found myself judging some of the actions to certain events, she just nailed it on others. I have to say she deserves a lot of credit for how great this movie turned out to be, because without her a lot of the value she added to the other characters wouldn't be there.
Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne was another role that suited this movie, while I don't think it was perfect, I don't see how anyone else could have done it anywhere near as well. He sold the whole rich man gone blue collar middle-class neighbor. Frankly his reactions, his emotions were so spot on, and most of the character flaws that I did see (that I didn't buy into) were the fact that an event or a part of the story got cut, it wasn't that he didn't play it right. I have to say the faults were mainly story driven errors not acting.
Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne, left me breathless. The rich girl that has a dark side, shines throughout this movie, and while again a lot was left out of here character, she just hammered what was there home. However, I wish a lot less of her nude was shown, frankly it got boring seeing her prancing about, but if you're going to see the movie for her naked, you're missing on so much more. I wanted to see more of Amy, see more of the story that was cut and buy into the character more, but it just wasn't there. The thrill and the psyche of Amy just fell too short in my opinion
So I will say this, while Neil Patrick Harris shows up as the stalker Desi Collings, he just falls so morbidly short it's not even funny. Neil isn't creepy looking, okay he nailed the rich guy, stuck up thing down, but the rest of his character was so off it made me angry. How can you do that to a character and not feel ashamed? I am not saying it's Neil's fault at all, but he just wasn't for that role and wouldn't have been on my first list at all. Where was Christian Bale, or Liam Hemsworth, or anyone else? He was the one grievous would to this movie that wouldn't stop bleeding.
In finality the movie was great, it was played well by the actors, but what plagued the movie was the bits they cut out. How some of the psychological understanding and getting invested into the characters was omitted was so wrong and insulting. I really wish this could be redone and something new could replace what I watched, because it's an utter insult to the book. The casting was right aside the one person, and even than I think it wasn't what killed the movie. Whoever decided what to omit and what to keep, needs a lesson in cinematography or just ask some people what should, but it just fell so short. I can only hope for better.
