"Gone Girl"

Title: Gone Girl

Director: David Fincher

Writer: Gillian Flynn (both novel and screenplay)

Category: Mistery, Drama, Thriller

Duration: 149 min

Rate: 

Before I review this movie, I want everyone to know that I should probably slap myself for not reading the book before watching the adaptation, because I ruined the whole suspense experience that everyone is praising about Gillian Flynn's novel. I also have to ask, how did she write such an amazing book (unfortunately I am quoting other people's opinion, and also the general critic as well. But I am going to read the book soon) and then manage to suck out all the aforementioned suspense effect out of the script.

I had so many expectations for this movie, everyone who reads the book was praising it for its originality, for the fact that it truly is a page turner and the way in which is written is spectacular. The general public described it as a masterpiece because its narrative instantly grabs your attention and it only lets you go at the end of the last page. For all these reasons, I was extremely curious to read it, but for lack of time I had to postpone it (and I still am postponing it, but this is because I was so stupid to watch the movie first). However, the same people who recommended me the book told me that the movie was a perfect adaptation and that Gillian Flynn, who wrote both the book and the script, outdid herself and made it as close to the book as possible. My expectations were set high, I could not wait to see this movie and being blown away while simultaneously gripping my chair. Unfortunately, neither of those two things happened. Ben Affleck did an amazing job, he portrayed his character with ease. He filled the shoes of the good husband perfectly and later on slowly morphed into this new man, who is determined to discover who kidnapped his wife, even when all the evidence pointed directly to him. His hate for the Amazing Amy, his wife, is evident in his eyes as well as in his voice. He is ready to do whatever it takes to prove that he is innocent and to show the real Amy to the rest of the world. Among the actors of the movie, however, Affleck was not the one that got the attention he deserved. His talent and great performance was acknowledged, however, the star of Gone Girl, according to the public and the critics was Rosamund Pike.

Here I have to completely disagree with everyone. She gave a believable performance as Amy, the scorned wife who is seeking revenge, but when we get the small glimpses of her as a good wife, always disregarded by her parents because she did not live out their expectations, she was hollow and cold. Her performance was the same for both sides of Amy.

I have to admit that her voice is compelling and makes the entry of her diary more intriguing, but her blank stare was not enough to sell her character to me. It was a surprise for me when she was nominated for the Oscars, because I believe that she did not fully understood her character, or at least the Amy at the beginning of her relationship with Nick. She was brilliant as vengeful and borderline psychotic as well as manipulative, but she was not able to turn off that side of her character when she was supposed to be the Amy in love with her husband.

However, the biggest problem for me was the fact that, even though I did not know the story, after the first 10 minutes, I already knew how the movie was going to end and I was so disappointed when, at the end of it, I discovered that I was right. I completely missed the gripping doubt that it was supposed to be there throughout the movie, I was not jumping to different conclusions, my mind was set from the first scene and when I learnt that I was right I was not amused. The strangest thing was that by the second half of the movie I was bored and almost wanted to skip some passages to see if indeed I was right.

The cinematography was spectacular, the colours and the panoramic shots were perfect as well as the editing as they helped create that distressing atmosphere always present in thrillers. However, if the way in which the movie was shot produced that feeling, I found the script to be lacking of that typical suspense factor that would have made it interesting and engaging to watch. All in all, I would not say that Gone Girl is a bad movie and nobody should watch it. What I am going to say is read the book before you see it because otherwise this will leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

Till next time,

Fred

Here the trailer: