0
The main issue I have with Gone Girl is how bloody difficult it is to write a review about it. With so much of the film’s enjoyment being had with the excellent twists and the story as a whole, it’s very difficult for me to tell you how good it is without just telling you what happens.
Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne, husband to Amy Dunne played by Rosamund Pike. Amy goes missing one day under mysterious circumstances and Nick is blamed for her disappearance by the police and media. Sounds very Hitchcock, right?
David Fincher shows us again how masterfully he handles mystery thrillers. The film constantly has you guessing.
Remember how good Se7en was? And Zodiac? Or The girl with the dragon tattoo? Even barring these previous Fincher efforts in mind does not help in trying to predict at all where the story is going in Gone Girl.
The cinematography is also excellent due to the ‘Fincher look’, achieved by his effective use of colour correction and precise choice of lenses.
But Rosamund Pike steals the show. She is so good and scary that you start to wonder what’s been taking her so long to perform at this level. When you see her in previous efforts, such as the disappointing Bond film Die Another Day you don’t expect to her ever be anything more than a pretty face.
However she has certainly come into her own on Gone Girl, demonstrating a superb mastery over the American accent, brilliant acting and she is certainly a strong factor in the film’s success (despite her being gone).
One of the key messages of the film is the power that the media has in high profile cases. Ideally in a fair and just society, the perception of a suspect in a case by the media should not influence or change police action or affect a trial.
But this film demonstrates how public opinion can have a huge influence. In one scene where Nick is posing for photographers against a backdrop of his missing wife, someone asks him to smile. He does so and it is captured, becoming the key image in the media’s attack on him.
The film is highly recommended for those who want to be kept guessing and on the edge of their seats.