By: Scott Harvey, Columnist
If you are looking for the next great date movie, you have come to the wrong review. If there is one thing that David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” is not, it is a date movie. This is, without a doubt, one of the most frightening films I have ever seen and not in a tongue-in-cheek, “Scream”-esque way. This is a truly psychologically terrifying film. It is also an involving and mesmerizing thriller that ranks among the year’s best films.
It is likely that you are familiar with the story of “Gone Girl” or at least with the novel upon which it was based. Gillian Flynn’s dark, twisty tale of a marriage gone wrong became a worldwide bestseller not long after it was released in June 2012. “Gone Girl” is the story of Nick and Amy Dunne, a seemingly idyllic married couple on the brink of their fifth anniversary. When Amy (Rosamund Pike) suddenly goes missing on the morning of that celebration, however, Nick (Ben Affleck) comes under scrutiny from the police. Soon, detectives Boney (Kim Dickens) and Gilpin (Welcome back from the dead, Patrick Fugit) begin to suspect that Nick knows more about the disappearance than he is letting on and the truth about Nick and Amy’s marriage begins to unravel... or does it?
One of the best things about “Gone Girl” is the way that it messes with your head without being manipulative. It pretty much goes without saying that no one in this film can be trusted and that what you see is not necessarily what you get. That is about all I can say without spoiling anything, but when “Gone Girl” pulls the rug out from under you, you will be grinning rather than groaning.
I will admit that I did not enjoy the novel as much as many others did. I found the characters cold to the touch and extremely hard to engage with. Even though the characters in “Gone Girl” are deliberately unlikable, there still needs to be some reason for the reader to care about what happens to them, and I do not think I fully got that with the novel. With the film, however, I was hooked from the word “go.”
It all starts with the actors. Ben Affleck has never been better. This is a perfect role for him because it allows him to see just how far his everyman
charm can take him with a sleazy character. Even as the evidence against Nick builds, we search for some other explanation and that is a huge credit to Affleck’s performance. Rosamund Pike is equally impressive as Amy. Her performance is something of a high-wire tightrope act for reasons I will not disclose, but I will say that essentially, she has to give two performances for one character and that she nails them both. Her facial expressions too, often tell us much more than her words. The supporting cast acquits itself very well also. Neil Patrick Harris is great in a showy part as one of Amy’s ex- boyfriends and so, surprisingly enough, is Tyler Perry as Nick’s flashy New York defense attorney. They really bring a vitality to their characters that I did not get with the novel.
I am not sure if “Gone Girl” is necessarily that rare example of a movie that is better than its book. Rather, this story is much better suited to film then to literature and that David Fincher is certainly the man to tell this story. Before he became notable for serious dramas like “The Social Network” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,”Finchermadeanamefor himself with gritty psychological thrillers like “Se7en,” “Fight Club,” and “Panic Room.” As always, he has a deft touch, and he knows how to stage each scene to achieve maximum suspense.
Indeed, “Gone Girl” has suspense in spades. Much like last year’s superior thriller “Prisoners,” “Gone Girl” holds the audience in a virtual vise grip, slowly building up the anticipation before channeling it into one wickedly grotesque scene of climactic violence that has audiences shivering and laughing at the same time. What is truly terrifying about the film, however, is the relevance and modernity of Flynn’s screenplay. Even amidst the grandiosity of the film’s plot, the screenplay retains an unsettling air of believability, especially when it comes to the media circus surrounding Amy’s disappearance and the way Nick is presented to the public.
Ultimately, “Gone Girl” is one of the must-see films of the year. You may not want to see it again for a long time after it is over, but while you are watching it, I doubt you will want to be anywhere else.
Grade: A