Review of Gone Girl (2014) by Patrick C — 11 Jun 2015

"I've gone .. and done it again." - John Doe, Se7en.

And so has director David Fincher. The genius provocateur has helmed such modern classics as Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Oscar nominees The Social Network and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Add Gone Girl to the list. Adapting Gillian Flynn's smash best-seller, Fincher delivers Generation Y their very own Fatal Attraction, a portrait of a marriage gone horribly, horribly wrong.

It's hard to write an adequate review with the film fresh in theaters as non-readers will want to avoid spoilers. NIck Dunne (Affleck) is married, mundane, and miserable in Missouri with a mistress, a deceased mother, a decaying father, a struggling business and Amy - Amazing Amy. She's a New York yuppie who's childhood was the basis for a series of best-selling children's stories. A minor celebrity and totally Type-A, Amy just can't help but expect more from Nick. But then one day, she goes missing, and he is the prime suspect in her disappearance.

Fincher unfolds the twists and turns like a virtuoso with another haunting, electronica score by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and his collaborator Atticus Ross (Oscar winners for The Social Network score). Jeff Cronenweth's moody cinematography is trademark Fincher as always.

Some may feel Affleck is too likable as Nick compared to the novel which the screenplay by Flynn herself does not depart from. But he delivers a great perf, one of the best of his career. And a star is born in Rosamund Pike. She makes Amy desirable, admirable and terrifying.

Destined for box office sucess, the film is probably too cold-blooded to win the Oscar but it should be nominated in most major categories especially Pike who has to be the frontrunner for Best Actress for now. A competitive, exciting movie season awaits, and Gone Girl is a terrific start.