The much-anticipated adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is strong, but it doesn’t live up to expectations.
This film unearths the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his beautiful wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?
This movie is all about perception, how the world perceives a person or scenario and what people are willing to believe based on pure perception. The marketing for this movie has been very clever in giving a perception that Nick Dunne really did kill his wife, but there is much more to this movie.
The plot is complicated and does have some twists along the way, there are some apparent plot holes, but after some consideration they can be explained, even if there explanations are a little far fetched. The leading cast is quite strong. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike both gave strong performances, they clearly both have talent, but sometimes the dialogue didn’t give them much to work with. It’s very hard to comment on the characters without giving away too much of the plot, but it is safe to say the Rosamund Pike did a superb job with her “complicated” character.
The supporting cast varied with Neil Patrick Harris giving a very strained performance. He was clearly outshone by both Tyler Perry and Carrie Coon. The police team (Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit) had a strong rapport, but their characters were quite flimsy.
The film is visually good and it has David Fincher’s directorial trademarks all over it. The music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is superb and helps build the tension of the movie.
Overall not the best thriller of all time and while it does boast a predominantly strong cast there are better movies to watch!
4 Stars
Review by Benjamin Maio Mackay
Movie screening courtesy of Palace Nova Cinemas
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