Review - Gone Girl

Its either a farce, overblown but entertaining cinema. Or a detailed, true portrayal of sad married life. Whatever it is, its something outstanding.

What are you thinking, Amy?

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Amy Dunne has gone missing. Her husband, Nick Dunne is indifferent. He behaves as if he does not cares. He smiles at press conference. He clicks selfies with some random chick. He doesn't knows her wife's friends. He doesn't knows what does she do all day long. He lies. Has Nick Dunne killed his wife?

Director David Fincher is known to cook up some real good suspense thrillers - I daresay, his Se7en is apparently the best suspense-thriller in among recent, post Hitchcock films. On the other hand, we have Gillian Flynn who wrote a great, great novel about messed up married life, all soaked up in twisted murder/abduction plot. When they both collaborate, we have something awesome to behold.

The film's first half presents itself in a series of flashback narrated by Amy - from her diary - how she met her perfect suitor, Nick; how he made her laugh, made her feel important; how they ended up getting married. They lost their jobs. Their "perfect" lives in New York ended up in the quiet town of North Carthage, Missouri. Their small arguments turned their marriage into a hard work. Slowly, slowly, they are hardly talking. Apparently Nick has hit Amy. Amy now fears Nick may kill her.

And this is interwoven brilliantly with Amy's missing case preceding. The both plot threads meet in the middle of the film - the big, big reveal. Till that, you keep guessing. This cross cutting technique (kudos to Kirk Baxter, the editor) works so well, that the entire viewer prospective of characters change. You love Amy at sometime. You love Nick at sometime. You hate Nick. You hate Amy.

The film presents some real shocking observations on the modern American lifestyle, though I'd rather say it has universal appeal. How a serious issue is turned into a media circus. How selfish, money-minded parents may damage a poor child and turn someone into a monster. Marriage is usually hard. Compromised are to be made. Adjustments are must. But usually, these compromises, these adjustments are more or less made by women - the wives. Men also, never get to know women. Husbands don't know what their wives want. Or why women fight over apparently petty issues. What do wives want. What husbands want.
Combined with stress, continuous disregard, loneliness, cheating, plotting - things are always disastrous. Gone Girl presents the viewers with some deep issues regarding marriage, which is something rare because thrillers are usually all fun and no deep themes. But mind you, this is Fincher cinema.

The acting is all round brilliant. Ben Affleck plays Nick Dunne - charismatic, cocky, charming, doubtful and weird. He is a perfect casting. Carrie Coon as soul sister to Nick gave a natural performance. But its Rosamund Pike as Amy who takes the cake. She is smart. Bold. Sexy. Unnerving. Cold. Amazing. What a performance. As if she has over ten characters for each mood. She is outstanding.

Screenplay by Flynn herself is a well balanced version of her wonderfully written novel. The novel is written entirely by two perspectives - Nick's and Amy's for most of the length. Obviously, for the film, it would have not worked. But Flynn morphed her deliciously complex novel into a smart script. Though you will have to miss those wonderful characterizations and descriptions that Flynn wrote.

Fincher gets the job done. He has made another great suspense-thriller with substance. No plot holes. But film is apparently is not believable - I think characters like Amy or her parents perhaps don't exist. Maybe it is a farce. But when you go back, think about it, it is not that unrealistic at all. Either way, farce or truth, Gone Girl is a amazing thriller. Its hard to take your eyes off the screen for most of its run time. Combined with great acting, chilling music (Raznor and Ross -you've done it again), dark, grey frames (Jeff Cronenwerth) - the film leaves you moved, disturbed and highly entertained.

4/5