Review of Gone Girl (2014) by Axgrinder — 11 Oct 2014

I didn’t love this movie, but I can’t dismiss it either. Ben Affleck stars as the husband, Nick, whose wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) has ‘disappeared’. The general public and most of the police think she is probably dead and that he has killed her. However, we (the audience) learn almost immediately that she has engineered her own disappearance. I’m not giving anything away by telling you that. The movie is about why she has left and resolving that situation.

Tension comes from the fact that we know Nick didn’t do it, but don’t really understand why he doesn’t seem to care all that much that his wife is missing. Nick’s public appeal for his wife’s return lacks any emotion or sincerity and everyone notices. Missy Pyle plays a TV commentator, who is a dead ringer for real life commentator Nancy Grace, and has a field day trying Nick’s case in the court of public opinion. Soon everyone hates Nick. One of his neighbors believes she has compelling evidence of Nick’s guilt and relentlessly tries to volunteer her information to the police. Unsatisfied with their uptake, she feels compelled to confront Nick with her ‘knowledge’ in a very public setting. Strangers emerge on the scene, like parasitic larva, seeking a vicarious thrill. Women show up to have their selfie taken with Nick. Hordes of people begin to patronize the quiet small town bar owned by Nick and Amy. Still, it’s hard to feel any sympathy for them. The more we learn about Nick and Amy the more there is to dislike about both of them.

Recently, there have been a lot of movies about dismal and depressing dystopian societies set in the relatively near future (such as Hunger Games, Divergent, and Her). What I found interesting about this movie is that it provides a window from which to view the dystopian elements of our present society as well as some of the more disturbing elements of our individual personas that could lead us down the path toward that sort of unpleasant future.

There are only three normal people in the whole movie: Nick’s twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon), police detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and high-profile, celebrity defense attorney Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry). The most depressing part of the movie comes when Margo and Boney ultimately recognize that they are completely impotent in affecting behaviors or outcomes. Bolt seems to have come to this same conclusion sometime in the past, but sees it all a game. The most memorable line in the movie is given by Bolt when, with a chuckle, he tells Nick that, “You two are the most f**ked up people I’ve ever met.”.

Around the two hour mark, the movie has a “Carrie” moment, where Amy returns home drenched in blood. It was shortly at this point where I thought Gillian Flynn’s story started losing all believability (and I started losing interest) as Nick’s character undergoes a total transformation (from complete jerk to total wimp) and the public gets fooled by Amy for a second time.

My final conclusion: At 2½ hours, this movie is just too darn long.