by Peter O'Connell
Gone Girl. Running time: 149 mins. Released: Oct. 3, 2014. Rated: R for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity and language.
Gone Girl is a psychological thriller of almost epic proportions and classic quality, worthy of comparison with masterworks by Hitchcock, Preminger and Wilder. In it Director David Fincher and screenwriter Gillian Flynn—adapting her best-selling novel—brilliantly construct, deconstruct and reconstruct both a marriage and a mystery,
Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy (Rosamund Pike) are young professionals who romantically meet and happily marry in NYC. Economic setbacks, however, force the couple to move to Nick's Missouri home town. There Nick co-owns a bar with his sister (Carrie Coon) and becomes rather lackadaisical. Amy becomes a stay-at-home wife. But is the marriage still “happy ever after”? Hmm . . . .
One day Amy disappears without a trace but under circumstances suggesting foul play. As the police (Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit) investigate, a massive search for Amy gets under way. When “clues” of dubious provenance start appearing, suspicion falls on Nick—did he murder his wife?—and a media carnival ensues.
Nick, aided by his sister and a bigtime lawyer (Tyler Perry), begins a desperate effort to unravel the mystery, including the motivations of Amy's former lover/stalker (Neil Patrick Harris), who has become one of the searchers for her.
Many movie mavens feel that David Fincher, whose 22-year career includes such dark and unusual works as Se7en, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network, now has joined the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino in a top directorial trinity succeeding the previous film generation's trinity of Kubrick/Coppola/Scorsese.
Certainly, Fincher's casting in Gone Girl is excellent. Ben Affleck is just right as a guy awakened from near lethargy by fear and rage. The beauteous Rosamund Pike is compelling in a complex role. Fincher also elicits strong performances from supporting actors (such as Coon, Dickens, Fugit), who have been around for a while without making much impact before now, and from performers (Harris, Perry) usually associated with comedy.
No comments:
Post a Comment