Amazing Amy

Gone Girl

Marriage is hard for many people. I have always found it challenging but not hard per se. Many things can ruin a marriage like adultery, money, and sometimes you just fall out of love. Author Gillian Flynn delves into marriage in her most recent book Gone Girl. Not a case study of what marriage is, Gone Girl is a riveting mystery. So popular was the book that 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights and decided to make a film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck Argo) is an average Missouri guy living in an average Missouri town. Owns a bar, has a twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon HBO's The Leftovers), and a beautiful wife named Amy (Rosamund Pike A Long Way Down). Nick’s life is flipped upside down when Nick is called home from his bar. Nick walks through his wide open door and searches his whole house for his wife. That is when Nick comes across a destroyed living room. Worried that something has happened to Amy, Nick calls the police. After her initial investigation, Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens The Blind Side) begins to question Nick, but Nick’s answers just seem to lead to more questions. Soon Nick is suspect #1, but Nick is sure he didn't kill his wife and starts to wonder if Amy was kidnapped or if she is missing on purpose

Gone Girl is a psychological thriller that takes its audience into the mind of each character beautifully. This film was superbly cast, excellently written, and wonderfully directed.

So let me start with the cast. I am a fan of Ben Affleck (yes even as Daredevil) and I have become a bigger fan of him as a director. As Nick Dunne, Affleck is able to show us a guy at the end of his rope. Affleck's tension on screen is so palpable that I truly believed that he was going to snap at any minute. One surprise that I would like to mention here is Nick’s twin sister Margo played by Carrie Coon. Margo is Nick's outspoken voice of reason and Coon does a great job of being Nick's opposite. Margo voices everything it seems like Nick is feeling and that makes Coon an interesting person to watch. The gem of this cast however, is Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne (Golden Globe nominated for this role as well). Amy is a very complex and trying not give any of the plot away, I think that Pike encompasses Amy's complexity magnificently. Pike deserves her nomination and I am crossing my fingers for her.

Adapting a novel into a screenplay seems difficult.  The job may become a little easier when you are the author of said novel. This is the case for Gone Girl. Author Gillian Flynn adapts her own book and does a great job keeping the themes from her book. Things are altered of course, but nothing is dropped that is utterly important.

Another psychological thriller for David Fincher (Girl With A Dragon Tattoo) and another home run for the acclaimed director.  I truly believe that there is no director better for psychological films like this than David Fincher. Not since Hitchcock has a director been able to get inside the minds of his audience. Fincher uses everything from the camera to the staging of his actors to the colors scheme to make his audience fully emerged into the story.

This film is definitely a part of my top 5 of 2014 and probably one of the best thrillers in a while. Nominated for a few Golden Globes, don't be surprised to see Rosamund Pike, David Fincher, or the film itself nominated come Oscar time. It is one of those movies that will take you on an incredible journey and at the end of the journey all you can say is WTF!

The Verdict: Very Much Worth Your Time.