So it’s that time again movie fans. It’s the 27th time I’ve offered an opinion on my cinema habit and it’s been over two and a half years since I first commented on a poorly received and badly made film that included a God with a big Hammer, a scientist with anger management issues and a Billionaire Playboy philanthropist who’s personal wealth is only surpassed by the size of his ego. There have been highs. There have been lows. For every ‘Gravity’ and ’12 Years a Slave’ there have been clangers like ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ and ‘Prometheus’. So that said it’s time to let my fingers run amuck across my keyboard to bring you my thoughts about David Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl’.
Firstly I should say that IMDb thinks that ‘Gone Girl’ is a drama, mystery and a thriller. But that doesn’t really even begin to cover it. It could also be argued that it falls under the black comedy banner and I’d even go so far to say that this will probably be the closet that David Fincher ever gets to making a romantic comedy. That isn’t to say this is a light and fluffy film or even warm and fuzzy to extend the analogy. It doesn’t come close on either of those fronts. Mr Fincher doesn’t do leave your brain at the door, switch off and enjoy cinema and I suspect he never will. Some of the issues raised in this film need to be taken very seriously and in the same way that ’12 Years a Slave’ was uncomfortable to watch at times ‘Gone Girl’ covers some subjects that leave you with thinking I wish I hadn’t seen that. Domestic violence and sexual assault being just two of the topics that this film needs you to digest.
Now given the nature of the film and its structure it’s almost impossible to discuss it without going into spoiler territory. So if you plan to go and see it please do so before reading any further. Its ok, I can wait……………………..
Seen it yet?
Ok I’ll carry on. ‘Gone Girl’ is the tenth Studio film that David Fincher has directed, the first being Alien3 back in 1992. Since then he’s covered a wide range of stories that have included serial killers, corporate birthday presents, home invasions and even social media. With the exception of serial killers (Seven and Zodiac) he’s never repeated or returned to the same themes and even that is an unfair comparison as ‘Seven’ is a work of fiction, whereas ‘Zodiac’ is based on real events that occurred in San Francisco.
‘Gone Girl’ is a film adapted from the bestselling novel written by Gillian Flynn. It tells the story of Nick Dunne and Amy Dunne, played by Ben Afleck and Rosamund Pike respectively. A married couple who have had to move back to Nick’s home town to look after his ailing father. On the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary Amy disappears and over the course of the ensuing investigation the evidence keeps leading back to Nick and incriminating him as the prime suspect.
What follows is the story of a nation that seems to feed itself on the media frenzy that’s generated around Amy’s disappearance. A disappearance that will be tried, convicted and executed in the court of public opinion.
Now back to those troublesome spoilers. The story, for the most part, is told via flash black. It’s done so mostly from Amy’s point of view and paints Nick out to be anything but the perfect Husband. Now I should say for the record that for the first act most people will be ‘Team Amy’. It turns out that Nick is having an affair with a twenty year old student that he’s teaching, he has money problems and that he’s not very motivated and a bit of an under achiever. The Money matter is further compounded by the fact that Amy and her parents are Rich. Amy has a trust fund that’s come from her parents writing a very popular and successful series of children’s books called ‘Amazing Amy’, based loosely around Amy’s life growing up. A diary, written by Amy, is discovered that also paints Nick as a controlling and sometimes violent Husband and has and entry in which Amy states that she worries that her husband may kill her. This diary also contradicts some of the previous statements that Nick has made to the police and makes it look like he’s not being completely honest with them. It’s very much a ‘He said, she said’ situation but prompts the two investigating officers to dig a lot deeper into what’s going on.
Just as things look like they can’t get any worse for Nick the second act of the film starts with the revelation that not only Amy alive but she planned her disappearance meticulously. Planting evidence at every available opportunity and generally trying to punish him for not being the man she thought she’d married. Now from here on in the film starts leading you towards rooting for ‘Team Nick’. So much so that by the end of the film it’s almost impossible not to be a fully paid up member of the Nick Dunne club.
By the third act Amy’s plan has gone somewhat awry. The trailer park that she’s chosen to hide out at has resulted in her being mugged and losing all of her money. This forces Amy into having to come up with a plan b and in doing so she resorts to involving a rich ex-boyfriend, played by Neil Patrick Harris that still has feeling for her. This doesn’t end up going too well for the boyfriend and after he’s been dispatched Amy then turns up back at her own house covered in blood.
Amy’s explanation for what has occurred and how she went missing has so many plots holes in it its almost laughable. It’s the only real flaw as the screenplay is well written and the characters make you want to emotionally invest in them. Like a sore tooth you keep prodding with your tongue, they can’t be ignored. It’s safe to say that Amy is a card carrying and fully paid up member of the ‘Sociopath’ club. She manipulates and plays everyone as she sees fit. The only problem I have with her character is that at times she almost borders cartoon evil. You’re expected to feel sorry for her and that doesn’t always work.
So to summarise, Act 1: Amy disappears, Nick looks more and more likely that he’s the culprit. Act 2: Turns out Amy isn’t dead and on top of that she’s orchestrated the whole thing from the beginning and Act 3: Thinking on the go or if you prefer ‘Are you f#@king kidding me!’
In closing I’ll say this. At one hundred and forty nine minutes it’s about half an hour too long. It has a very good musical score co-wrote by Atticus Ross and Trent Razor and although it’s not up in the same league as say ‘Seven’ or ‘The Social Network’ I would recommend you watch it at some point. That said it needs to be pointed out that this is NOT, repeat NOT a date movie.
Twitter Review:
If blood, affairs, double cross and wacky wives is your bag, this is your film. Possible Oscars nods too
#DoogieHowserDies
Useful Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/?ref_=nm_knf_i4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esGn-xKFZdU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXaBGuoSrSc
