When thinking about reviewing Gone Girl and where I drew line for spoilers became a challenge, as
it does with every review. Defining spoiler is a tricky business. While some would consider even the
slightest detail a spoiler, a viewpoint I myself skew towards, I have tried to
avoid anything that may give away the film’s great moments. So with that anything
that is included in this review is either general knowledge, or are hinted at
in the trailers.
Gone Girl largely
follows Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) in the days and weeks following his wife Amy’s
disappearance. At first, sympathy is universal, but as suspicion and doubts
begin to surface, a lot driven by media speculation, Nick then has to begin to
defend himself as the world begins to watch him as much as they follow the
search for Amy.
David Fincher is a director whose next film is often
preceded by a great deal of anticipation and expectation, when you consider his
previous work it is completely understandable. He has delivered at least three
masterpieces, Seven, Zodiac and The Social Network, although there are some who would argue that
that particular group should be bigger.
His work often has a very cynical and dark look on life,
focusing largely on flawed and broken people struggling through life, put under
the microscope during the film for us to look at study and hold a mirror up to
ourselves. Gone Girl, is no
different, Fincher and writer Gillian Flynn, really focus in on the media and
their every growing witch hunt of Nick, as they do follow Nick through his
behaviour and actions, some questionable, following Amy’s disappearance.
As the central character, Nick, Ben Affleck has to take us
through a whole range of emotions in quick succession as his life unravels
within a matter of days. He is likeable and charming, at first, no doubt
deliberately to both get us on his side, but also to sow some seeds of doubt in
the audience’s minds, so that when the witch hunt begins, we begin to think
that maybe he could have done it. Without, giving anything away, it is in the
second half of the film where Affleck really gives us Nick’s interesting
moments, straining to keep it together as everything goes from bad to worse and
life falls apart in front of him.
Rosamund Pike is in the film quite
a bit, that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, but a lot of her role is told
through flashbacks of the early days of her relationship with Nick, where she
plays Amy as the cool New York girl that is everything that Nick wants. But the
character and Pike’s performance really comes into its own in the darker
moments of the story, as the toll of moving back to Nick’s hometown begins to
strain their marriage. She’s dangerous, unpredictable and meticulous, with some
of her actions putting her on a par with a character like Hannibal Lector or John
Doe from Seven.
Since Fincher began collaborating with Trent Reznor and
Atticus Ross, the sound of his films for me has been one of the great
attractions of going to see them in the cinema. Their versions of The Immigrant Song and In The Hall of the Mountain King have
been real attention grabbers. In Gone
Girl, they hold back a little more, using the music to really build tension
throughout. The last twenty minutes is a master class in doing this, it sounds
like a very simple piece, but it is the subtle repetition that gradually
increases the tension to an almost unbearable level.
Ross and Reznor’s stand out moment comes with an act of
genuinely shocking violence, matching quick cuts with terrifying swells of
sound, the scene and music left me in a state of shock for a few minutes
afterwards. It was a perfect moment, of every single aspect of the film making
process coming together to create an unforgettable moment.
Gender roles and expectations are a big part of Gone Girl, early on Nick receives endless
the support and sympathy of everyone. But when that first shadow of doubt and
suspicion begins to gather over him, his world changes. Talk show hosts condemn
him for his unproven actions, stupid neighbours are believed above the people
that know him, their wild actions taken by people as hard truth. One underlying
question that I felt the film was asking was, if the roles had been reversed,
would the media have gone after Amy as quickly or as ferociously.
The film is definitely damning of the media’s approach to
these situations, sensationalising facts and drawing conclusions based on
little real facts. The saddest part of this is just how accurate it is to
events we see unfold once or twice year. The strength of the criticism by Flynn
and Fincher is that they rarely put a comedic or overt satirical spin on it,
they play it dead straight and get strong results.
Gone Girl, for me
is another great film from Fincher. It’s a pacey and beautifully plotted
labyrinthine puzzle of film that will no doubt offer more on each subsequent
viewings.
If you can, go and see this in the cinema on a big screen
and take in a film crafted by some of the best the industry can offer.
Just make sure you avoid spoilers.
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Gillian Flynn (Novel and Screenplay)
