Note: This post will contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen this film you may want to stop reading at this point.
Gone Girl (2014)
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris
Plot: "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."
Heading into Gone Girl there were three things I expected to happen.
1) Decent acting out of Ben Affleck.
He's always going to be a better director (Argo, The Town and Gone Baby Gone) than actor, but Ben's acting has been steadily growing as of late. Part of it is he is taking better roles, but the other is he's maturing quite a bit on-screen. In Argo - while playing the main character - he managed to stay out of the way, which was a huge step forward for Ben. This time around, I wanted to see if he could continue with that positive momentum.
2) A well told story.
Gone Girl was based off a book by Gillian Flynn by the same title, who actually doubled-down and tried her hand in screenwriting with this film. They typically don't make movies out of poorly written novels, so the consensus going in was that Gone Girl was going to have intricate and well-thought out plot twists.
3) All of the D's from David Fincher.
Fincher's movies are notorious for being dark, depressing, dreary, disturbing, and always involving death as a central theme. Just take a look at his recent films and you will see what I mean: Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Expected more of the same here.
Not only did the film hit on all three of those points, but it also left me with a couple other "D feelings," disappointed and dumbfounded, which is actually quite a difficult feat to accomplish. It was everything I wanted going in, but still let me down.
Let's try to expand on that.
THE STORY
Gone Girl crafts a tale centered around love, marriage and betrayal. Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne who falls in love and eventually marries Amy (played by the relative unknown Rosamund Pike). They are both witty writers who appear to be a perfect fit for each other - until life gets in the way.
Here is the cliff notes version of what goes down.
- Nick comes home from work and finds his house in disarray and his wife missing.
- When police become involved they find clues that show us Nick was not faithful and that it appears Amy was murdered.
- Nick is arrested for that supposed murder.
- Amy staged everything on her own to make it look like Nick murdered her. Nick realizes this as well but doesn't have any tangible proof.
- Amy comes back to Nick after she murders an ex-boyfriend who she pins everything on.
- Amy impregnates herself with an old fertility test of Nick's and the movie ends with Amy basically holding Nick hostage as her "loving" husband.
WHAT WENT WELL
- The acting wasn't spectacular but it wasn't bad either. Tyler Perry was probably the best of the bunch with a close second to Rosamund Pike. (Note to self: it's never a great sign for your movie when Tyler Perry steals the show with his acting.) Ben Affleck was his usual Ben Affleck self. Didn't blow anyone away but was solid. If he gets ANY award whispers from this performance I would be shocked.
- Gone Girl creates dialogue afterwards, as it will have you discussing the major themes it touches on: love, marriage, infidelity, domestic violence and feminism. The big question it raises which we can all relate to was, "Do you really ever get to know someone completely?" Anytime you can have serious discussions about serious topics after watching a movie is a serious plus in my serious book.
- Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross teamed up again to do a great job with the music. It feels like a major character in the film. While it wasn't as intense as it was in The Social Network, they still do outstanding work. If this film garners ANY Oscar buzz it should be for the musical score.
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is on my short list of novels next up in the rotation. From those who have read that book they have assured me - as usually is the case - it's better than the film version.
WHAT DIDN'T GO WELL
- My biggest complaint with this film is that it shifted narrators midway through the movie. The first half is told through Nick and then the second half via Amy. Since they have contradicting stories/versions it just created a clouded confusion. Was Amy really crazy? Did Nick actually hit her? Why couldn't Nick leave her when she came back? I left the theatre a little dazed and confused, especially with that last question - why didn't Nick just leave? It seemed the pregnancy was the only thing keeping him with Amy, but what a ridiculous reason to stay with someone you hate - especially a murdering psycho.
- Playing devil's advocate a bit, maybe that's what the author/screenwriter Gillian Flynn was going for, showing the absurdity of "marriage" and shining a light on some of its' major flaws. That being said, the point didn't hit home nearly as hard as it might have been intended simply due to the bizarre situation surrounding it.
- As smart as Amy was in pulling off her disappearance and simultaneously framing her husband for her murder, she was equally as dumb in getting robbed by Billy Bob and Mary Joe out in the boondocks while she was hiding out. As soon as she got caught with all of that cash she should have bounced and the only logical reason I can think of as to why she didn't was to advance the plot.
- Fincher uses the media quite a bit in this film, almost as a secondary character. Normally this can be a useful tactic but Fincher drops the ball in this instance by basically only using the same "Talking Head" throughout the entire movie. People flip channels these days because they have a plethora of options at their disposal. However in Gone Girl we get the same lady appearing on television constantly. This could be seen as nit-picking, but it severely bugged me.
- Gone Girl clocks in at 149 minutes, which was about 29 minutes too long.
WRAPPING IT UP
Gone Girl has been number one in the box-office for the past two weeks since it's opening, pulling in more than $75 million to date. It has an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently ranked #71 in IMDB's Top 250 movies of all-time. People seem to enjoy this movie quite a bit, I'm just not one of them.
The acting wasn't enough to make up for the confusing narrative. The story really didn't have that many twists and turns outside of the realization Amy was in on it all by herself. As I was watching I originally thought Nick's father was going to play a role in everything seeing as he escaped from his retirement home the same day Amy disappeared, but that coincidence was nothing more than a gigantic waste of time.
The film was dark and depressing as most Fincher films are, but it didn't hammer home any point other than American husbands will cheat on and divorce their regular wives, but if that wife turns out to be of the psychotic/murdering/pregnant variety, then they will all stay.
Gone Girl is a nice date-night movie but not one that should be taken seriously at the Oscars.
VERDICT: Wait For RedBox.
QUOTES
"What are you thinking? What are you feeling? What have we done to each other? What will we do?" - Nick Dunne.
"I will practice believing my husband loves me, but I could be wrong." - Amy Dunne.
"Whoever took her is bound to bring her back." - Margo Dunne.
Nick Dunne: You're delusional. I mean, you're insane, why would you even want this? Yes, I loved you and then all we did was resent each other, try to control each other. We caused each other pain.
Amy Dunne: That's marriage.
Officer Jim Gilpin: You ever hear the expression the simplest answer is often the correct one?
Detective Rhonda Boney: Actually, I have never found that to be true.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
1 comment:
I really liked this film, but not for the hyped-up (and overrated) plot twists, which to me, were totally predictable. I liked this movie as I found it to be a true exploration of a long-term relationship and brought up issues that most people don't speak about openly. You don't really know someone until the façade is dropped and by then, winner winner chicken dinner, it's too late because you're already roped in...and guess what? You didn't know each other after all.
So, there were no kids (before the disappearance) in this wayward marriage of Nick and Amy's, so why didn't Nick just leave? After all, he was in love with that young student, Andy.
I think this is where the storyline could have, and should have been expanded.
Nick and Margo (his sister) make a few comments about their father and it sounds like he was a dead beat, pain in the arse and not a great husband or father. My opinion is Nick wants to avoid turning into a chip off the old block by staying with Amy initially and then again, by not leaving her when she announces her creepy pregnancy after her return.
Speaking of creepy, Amy's "Amazing Amy" author parents are a couple of odd ducks and I thought they were in on the whole thing at the beginning since book sales had been down, and they needed to generate more interest.
Amy also seemed to have a crappy upbringing. It's like she couldn't fail, or get a bad grade. If she did, her parents revised her life by making the character Amy in their books excel. Real Amy gets kicked off of the volleyball team, Fake Amy is all-state. Real Amy gets an F in history, Fake Amy writes and publishes a history book that's sold to all inner city schools with all proceeds donated to Camp Mariah. You get the idea.
Anyway, I think this is just more of a lesson how parents can screw a kid up...just like Nick and Amy ultimately will with that baby on the way (how can they not)?
Amy was clearly pushed and pressured to compete with the literary version of herself, going to Harvard and getting how many degrees, etc. Apparently, they don't teach Common Sense 101 at Harvard. How Amy allowed herself to be bamboozled by those two nincompoops at the Regal Beagle Motel is beyooooond me. Who didn't see that one coming, really? I mean, I went to a college in a cornfield, and I saw the big, scrolling special alert of the bottom of the screen "Amy is about to get robbed by Short Shorts and No Teeth. Well, she is getting robbed tomorrow. But she's not smart enough to figure it out."
Having said that, I really enjoyed Rosamund Pikes's acting. I thought she was brilliant, plus she does a pretty good job faking an American accent, and that always gets props with me.
Neil Patrick Harris was incredible as the creepy, doomed, ex-boyfriend Desi. But no matter what, I can't get over NPH being anyone but Doogie Howser, MD. It doesn't matter how many suits he wears, hi-fives he gives, women he sleeps with or White Castle sliders he eats, he will always be Doogie Howser. Confession: during the whole scene at the lake house, I was totally expecting Wanda and Vinny to come tapping on the glass and save the day. And then Doogie could type "Wow, close one." into his journal log to end the day.
Other good part of this film for me, the characters Margo and Tanner Bolt. Tyler Perry as Tanner was exceptionally good and hilarious; same with Carrie Coon as Margo. She was also the only character that I liked. I would like to have a drink with her at The Bar. Maybe. Depends if Nick and Amy are there or not. If their baby is there, forget it. Projectile green vomit for all.
I didn't read the book, so that's my next project. I am guessing I will have more to add when I get to read and learn the deep backstory with Amy's parents and Nick's dad.
:)
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