Gone Girl

For some reason, near the end of October/beginning of November, I happen to go to the cinema more than once, or I have in the last two years at least.  This time I went to see Gone Girl, a thriller, which I wouldn't normally go see in the cinema because sometimes I'm a bit jumpy when it comes to that sort of film and it's embarrassing in public but I fancied a change as I find Ben Affleck fascinating as an actor.

Gone Girl is the 2014 thriller, directed by David Fincher, adapted from Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.  The main cast includes Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Argo), Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day, Pride and Prejudice), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser, M.D.), Tyler Perry (Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Diary of a Mad Black Woman), and Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, One in a Million).

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Thriller fans; Fincher fans

Favourite Characters: Nick - Ben Affleck was great

Favourite Part: Nick: When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head.  I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.  The primal questions of a marriage: What are you thinking?  How are you feeling?  What have we done to each other?  What will we do?

Good Points: The two narrative structures working simultaneously; beginning and middle were excellent; Nick and Go

Bad Points: Could have finished a lot sooner

Gone Girl begins as Nick Dunne (Affleck) comes home on his fifth wedding anniversary to find his wife, Amy (Pike), missing which draws a lot of media attention due to Amy being the inspiration behind her parents' popular book series, Amazing Amy.  On the surface, Nick and Amy's marriage looks wonderful at first but suspicion starts to fall on Nick as evidence, including a diary written by Amy, implies that Amy has been murdered, not kidnapped, and his behaviour is characterised by the media as one of a sociopath.  With the help of his twin sister, Go (Coon), Nick tries to work out what has really happened to Amy and prove his innocence with the help of Tanner Bolt (Perry), a lawyer who specialises in defending men who have been accused of killing their wives.  To help with his case, and gain some more perspective on his wife, Nick meets with two of her ex-boyfriends, one of whom is Desi Collins (Harris) who Amy previously had a restraining order against but Desi provides Nick with no new information that could help him.  As an audience, we follow Nick's timeline as he tries to find out what happened to his wife as we are as much in the dark as he is while we also follow a narrative told from Amy's point of view about their relationship; this leads us to question what these two are really like and how messed up their marriage is.

I enjoyed how there were two narrative structures - both Nick's as the events of Amy's disappearance occur and Amy's, both from her journal and her reality - and how they intertwined throughout the film.  I found it very interesting because it isn't a common technique used in mainstream films and makes Gone Girl stand out for me.  From what I have gleamed from skimming through the original book that the film was adapted from, the film is similar structure-wise to the film, probably due to the author also being the screenwriter as well which can maintain fidelity.

The beginning and middle of Gone Girl were excellent, full of twists that I wasn't expecting and because of the twists, I thoroughly enjoyed these parts.  Because of how much I enjoyed the beginning and middle, time just flew by as we got deeper and deeper into the story and it became more intense.  In some ways, because of how the twists occur which brought a darker tone each time and drawing the audience deeper into this superficial and manipulative relationship, it reminds me of other films Fincher has gone.  If you're a fan of Fincher or a story that has a number of dark twists in it, I would recommend Gone Girl for your viewing pleasure.

On the outside, Nick looks like a happily married man who has moved back home to help his family out but through Go, Nick's twin sister, we get an insight into Nick's life as he talks freely about his relationship with his wife and as certain events unfold, Go supports Nick through this difficult part of his life and scolds him when she finds out parts of his character which even she didn't know about, like a true sibling.  While he doesn't share everything with her, it is implied that he loves and trusts Go more than he does Amy through their conversations.  Without the character of Go, we would not see certain aspects of Nick's character and he could become very unlikeable even if he is portrayed by Ben Affleck.

I will confess this now but I always forget how much I enjoy watching Ben Affleck in films and how wonderful of an actor I think he is because I watch his films sporadically.  Due to Ben Affleck's acting, I found Nick to be my favourite character out of all those present in Gone Girl because I found him to be interesting and despite his self-indulgent nature, he was clever, working out what had happened to his wife while trying to behave a certain way for the cameras.  I found Affleck's performance to be layered because he showed the many versions of Nick's character that were slowly revealed in both narratives.  From the point of Nick, he hid his true character from the media and the audience at first, and even his family, which made him intriguing as the mask slowly cracked; he comes across as a seemingly loyal husband, worried for his wife, but we eventually see him to be self-involved, a cheater, and a liar with abandonment issues.  As well as his portrayal as Nick from his own perspective, Affleck obviously portrayed Nick in Amy's narrative from her diary, who goes from sweet and loving to violent and abusive towards Amy; I found Affleck's performance extremely convincing because I genuinely feared for Amy's life at one point as this hulking 6-foot-something bloke loomed over her.  While many seem to forget that Affleck can act and is wonderful at it, I for one can't wait to see more of his films and Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice can't come sooner.

After we got past Amy's story in the film and the climax of that saga, I thought it was going to end but it continued for nearly half an hour; this made Gone Girl drag for me which was a shame and is probably the only reason behind me not rating Gone Girl as a 10.  I thought it could have ended when Nick locks himself in his room with the cat for safety and due to his own paranoia because it would have brought the film to a dark, more effective end.  I only thought this because the film was ramped up, story-wise, and when everything came to a head, it lulled afterwards.  This was the only drawback for me as I've said but overall, it was a fascinating film.

Nick: When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head.  I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.  The primal questions of a marriage: What are you thinking?  How are you feeling?  What have we done to each other?  What will we do?

These lines are said at the very beginning as the audience look at Amy from the point of view of Nick.  It sets the mood for the entire film and makes you question whether Nick actually did kill Amy because they don't share their thoughts or feelings with one another, Nick talks to Go and Amy just hides hers.  These lines drew me in and captured my attention and then kept it for most of the two hours.  It is a strong opening and fit well with the piece of film it was voiced over and stands out to me as a well-done introduction, something I have come to expect from Fincher.

With everyone up in arms about Affleck being Batman, it made me forget how much I enjoy his films so I was pleasantly surprised and reminded of this fact as I watched Gone Girl and this is probably why Nick is my favourite character in this film.  Despite the lull at the end of the film, the rest of Gone Girl was excellent and reminded me of Fincher's other films and would be sole point I would recommend this film on if I was so inclined but I did find Nick and Go interesting as a pair because we saw another side to Nick, a more honest one, through his twin.  If you are one of these people that complains that a film is never as good as the book, they made a fair attempt to maintain its fidelity by having the author taking on the role of the screenwriter, though I haven't read the book yet.  So in summary, an excellent, performed well by the cast, full of twists, enough to satisfy a Fincher fan, though it could have ended a lot sooner for me.  I do aim to get this on DVD when it comes out because it is by far one of my favourite Ben Affleck films.

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