David Fincher is one of my favourite directors, and I haven't seen a bad film by him yet. The Social Network and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo have been excellent and I loved his work on House of Cards, and am very much looking forward to seeing what he can do with the upcoming TV show Utopia that he has planned. He’s a master at creating tense, atmospheric thrillers and that made him the perfect choice to direct Gone Girl, one of last year’s biggest films, based around a book that received just as much attention (and a book that I’m currently reading at the moment).
How much do you know about your other half? That’s the question that’s on display here with secrets wrapped around secrets that begin to tear the lives of two, seemingly happily married lovers Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) when Nick heads home to find Amy missing on their fifth wedding anniversary. Nick at first has the support of the media, but when things start turning against him, questions and suspicions start increasing. Did Nick kill his wife? Was it his fault? What really happened to ‘Amazing’ Amy? The compelling plot really draws you in, and is packed full of plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience engaged. For readers who haven’t read the book it will remain incredibly unpredictable, with the stakes being raised around every corner as the tension continues to rapidly escalate.
The acting in Gone Girl is great, with both Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike putting in an impressive performance as the two leads. If you don’t think Affleck can act and are worried about the choice for him as Batman, then you’ll want to watch this movie if you haven’t already. Rosamund Pike’s performance is equally good if not better, and the two really work well together to bring the equally flawed characters of Nick and Amy to life. The supporting cast is great as well, consisting of Carrie Coon (Nick’s twin sister, Margot) Kim Dickens (Detective Rhonda Boney), Neil Patrick Harris (Amy’s ex-lover) and Tyler Perry (a lawyer). It’s certainly an interesting bunch of supporting cast that work pretty well indeed even if the main attention is clearly on the main two, Nick and Amy.
The less you know about Gone Girl, the more you’ll be surprised. There are many twists and turns that you won’t see coming and it really is an example of how to pull off a great thriller movie. David Fincher is no stranger to this genre and having delivered some impressive films in the past, this one is one of his best. It’s a plot driven story that still manages to remember to develop its characters, and what on paper seems like a simple ‘find the missing wife’ plot is far more than that.
Whilst not last year’s best thriller (my favourite is still Nightcrawler), Gone Girl is most certainly the second best. Compelling, shocking, well acted and well directed, this is a movie that thriller fans really will want to watch. It’s that good, and with it now out on DVD, you really can’t afford to put off watching it any longer.
VERDICT: 8.3/10
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