Director: David Fincher
Writer: Gillian Flynn
Starring: Ben Affleck,
Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris
Okay so this wasn’t my
original “G” movie but to be honest since my neighborhood video store closed I
wasn’t able to find 2013’s Gravity
anywhere for under ten dollars. Sorry, but it could’ve been horrible and not
worth my money. So I randomly picked again and came across David Fincher’s Gone Girl. Now I know it’s based on a
book but I haven’t read it…Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry. Having not read it I can’t
say if it did the book any justice, but what I can do is say that as a film it blew me away.
The movie is basically about
this guy named Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) who on the day of his fifth wedding
anniversary comes home to find that his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) has gone
missing. So the police get involved, the news spreads like wildfire to
basically the entire town and eventually across the U.S. and due to Nick’s apparent
lack of concern, people start getting suspicious, as his behavior resembles
that of a sociopath. (Pretty much everyone starts to think he murdered his
wife). So then as we move on we are given, through flashbacks, a clear image of
what Nick and Amy’s marriage was like: at first almost too good to be true;
however, we then discover that it was in fact slowly deteriorating which has us
very confused about what we think
actually happened. It’s awesome.
So I really can’t say much
more about the plot because honestly it would be doing you a disservice. I
would usually recommend not watching a trailer but seeing as I had seen it
plenty of times before watching the movie and had no idea what was coming, I
think you’ll be good.
First of all I have to
comment on the visuals, which were great. At times it felt a little darkly lit
but what I loved was the simplicity of how the movie was shot mixed with the
slightly faded and even kind of greenish filter. There were moments where we
would be with Nick inside his house, which would be darkly lit but with bright,
constant white flashes coming from the reporters outside. It was done in such a
way as to almost make me feel like I was being harassed as well, as they were
on the brink of being extremely disruptive. But they weren’t and it added to
the overall feel of the movie. There’s also a shot of Nick’s wife that appears
twice in the film (I won’t say when) of her leaning on him and looking straight
into the camera (or Nick’s eyes) and after having figured things out, the
second time I saw it I literally got chills.
Aside from the visuals, the
performances were top notch. Ben Affleck has proven, within the past few
years, that he has talent. I mean I
don’t think I’ve ever come across an actor who makes what he does seem so damn
effortless. He has this very modest way about him while still managing to
become a completely different person, in this case Nick Dunne. Also, Rosamund
Pike? Damn! She was absolutely perfect for this role and gave such a haunting
and, in a way, confusing performance. She had me so invested in her character
and gave just the perfect amount of energy to pull off such a complex
character. This, however, leads me to the one issue I had with the movie...Neil Patrick
Harris. Yup, he’s in it…
I adore Neil Patrick Harris. He’s
charming, attractive, and…not the right casting choice to play Desi Collings,
Amy’s obsessive, and frankly very creepy, boyfriend. Even Tyler Perry (who, yes, was also in this movie) seemed
like a good choice. But seriously Neil Patrick Harris? Now don’t think I’m
objecting because of his sexuality because, trust me, that’s NOT my problem. My
problem is that I simply think he plays the delightfully funny guy very well, and while I respect him for
branching out, I just don’t think this role fit him well and, therefore, it
kind of took a little bit away from his scenes for me. Just saying…you can
totally have your opinion but that’s mine.
Okay so I would definitely
recommend this movie. I could go on and on about things I loved and not about
those I didn’t. Ben Affleck fans out there will love it, as will fans of movies
in the “who done it” genre. It’s slow paced but in a way that will somehow have
you entertained throughout the entire two and a half hours. And that’s saying
something…
No comments:
Post a Comment