Gone Girl Review

Amazing Amy makes for fantastic Fincher.

Film review by Isaac Handelman

Gillian Flynn’s smash-hit literary blockbuster Gone Girl was initially oft-considered “unfilmmable.” David Fincher proves such assertions to be absurd with his brilliant adaptation of the mystery thriller. Unusually structured and, arguably, manipulative of the audience, Gone Girl is not an entirely cohesive film, but it slides comfortably in alongside Fincher’s previous successes.

On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) returns home to find his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), gone without a trace. He soon becomes the prime suspect in the missing person investigation, and audience allegiances ricochet back and forth amidst suspicious behaviors and reveals of foggy pseudo-truths. Discussing the film’s narrative in much detail is difficult without spoiling things, but suffice to say all is not as it seems.

Big name actors often have trouble breaking out of their established molds, but in Gone Girl, Ben

Affleck is Nick Dunne. The veteran expertly conveys Dunne’s anything goes, laid-back attitude in the face of the insanity surrounding him. His fakesy grins and futile attempts at genuineness are sure to keep audiences cautiously judging his every move. 

Pike is also nothing short of phenomenal; her cold gazes and silky-smooth narration ensure that, despite being made privy to her thoughts, audiences never truly feel inside her head. Her mysterious presence is palpable even when she isn't on-screen.

Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris are suitably cast and effective as confident, suave defense attorney Tanner Bolt and Amy's creepy, over-attached ex Dezi Collings, respectively. Nick’s twin sister Margo is portrayed by Carrie Coon, and the two share immediate on-screen chemistry, displaying an amusing, back-and-forth sibling banter, which is important in establishing their closeness from the get-go.

Despite a meaty runtime that clocks in at just under two-and-a-half hours, Gone Girl’s narrative rockets along at a breakneck pace, leaving little room for viewers to miss oftentimes crucial pieces of dialogue. Fincher and screenwriter Flynn stay ardently faithful to the source novel, ensuring that every tiny detail on hand is relevant. Repeat watchings are likely to bring new richness to the story and subtle realizations to viewers.

A few instances of obtuse, though necessary, extended explanation do pop up from time to time. The overarching narration present in the film helps to downplay the ham-fistedness of these sequences to an extent, but does not entirely mask what they truly are: exposition dumps. Still, again taking into consideration that Fincher is working with source material that was previously considered unfilmmable, we’re treated to an impressively sparse count of these minor annoyances.

The film being so twisty-turvy, Gone Girl’s ending is tasked with neatly tying up a myriad of thematic elements -- and whether or not it succeeds in doing so is bound to be divisive. The conclusion is morose and anticlimactic and, though it carries considerable emotional repercussions, the journey is, in this case, definitely greater than the rather aimless destination.

Alongside all the intrigue, Flynn and Fincher manage to pack in hard-earned moments of comic relief that transcend the usual one-liners of blockbuster cinema, building off the narrative framework of the film to deliver relevant, timely humor. These insertions keep the mood of the film from slumping into dreary. Gone Girl consistently remains a riveting, ever-entertaining thrill, and manages to do so without disrespecting the heavy subject matter onhand.

The entire ordeal is punctuated by a fantastically moody, atmospheric, subtle score by Trent Reznor. The film’s overwhelming aura of intensity comes to a boiling point during a few scenes that are outright terrifying thanks to Fincher’s stylish, razor-sharp direction coupled, in a match made in heaven, with Reznor’s haunting songs.

And though Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott were unfortunately not as well matched as the director and composer, their dysfunction at least results in a gripping ride, and another deserved victory lap for David Fincher.