Monday, January 5, 2015

Gone Girl

Directed by David Fincher.
2014. Rated R, 149 minutes.
Cast:
Rosamund Pike
Ben Affleck
Carrie Coon
Tyler Perry
Neil Patrick Harris
Kim Dickens
Casey Wilson
Sela Ward
Emily Ratajkowski
Patrick Fugit
Missi Pyle

On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick (Affleck) wakes up dreading life as he seems to have done for quite a while. He heads down to the bar he co-owns with his sister and drowns his sorrows in an early morning drink or two. When he returns home, still early, he discovers that his wife Amy (Pike) is missing. and evidence of a crime. Like any of us would do, he calls the cops. They assess the scene and quickly decide there was indeed some foul play involved. It also comes to light that Amy is something of a celebrity, having famously been the inspiration for the best selling children's books written by her parents. With that bit of info, the police feel it's a good idea to have a press conference. Of course, a media circus ensues. Also ensuing is the apparent culpability of Nick in his own wife's disappearance and, possibly, her murder. Then things change.

Saying things change is an understatement akin to saying Usain Bolt is a pretty good runner. The twists and turns we go through with this movie are enough to cause whiplash. However, and this is key to the film's success, they don't. It takes us right to the edge of the cliff several times, but never lets us fall off. This is a testament to the masterful direction of David Fincher. As he has proven over the course of his filmography, he knows just how much is all we can handle. He's become an expert at filling the glass right to the rim without spilling a drop. In the hands of a lesser director, this material would've become unwieldy, collapsing under its own weight. For proof, look no further than the movies directed by one of the stars of this one, Tyler Perry. Nearly all of Perry's flicks contain numerous seismic shifts similar to what happens, here. The key differences are in how those things are stacked and resolved. They're often piled one atop another haphazardly with little regard for the pieces beneath them as a result of coming at breakneck speed. Then, no matter how much has happened, our solution is always a simple one giving almost all of Perry's movies work a preordained feel. We're just hurtling towards a happy ending, rendering much of what we see pointless. In other words, Perry pours to the rim also, but keeps pouring, making a mess of things. With Gone Girl, Fincher's wild swings are neatly spaced, though the intervals get shorter as the film progresses, and each one throws the outcome in serious doubt. It helps that we already know from his past that he has the courage to end on a down note. The result is we're drawn to the edge of seats and truly have no idea how it will all turn out. Of course, this is someone who hasn't read the novel on which this is based. Even if you have, I think the sentiment still applies. After all, plenty of movies have changed the ending of their source material.

Pulling off such a cinematic feat is most certainly not a solo act. Even a director of Fincher's caliber needs a cast with the ability to help make his vision a reality. The one assembled here is masterful. I know who plays the titular role, and we'll certainly get to her, but it really starts with Ben Affleck. For the entirety of the first act, he is the person in the spotlight, both in the movie and in the world the movie creates. Carrying the film is left to him. He effectively casts doubt in our minds about whether he's the villain or the victim. It is of great benefit to this film that he's not immediately nor completely likable. At very best, he's a piss poor husband that has been recently getting more brazen with his indiscretions. At worse, he's murdered his wife. It's a tightrope walk that Affleck completes while dancing back and forth along the line.


When we get to the second act, Affleck is largely relieved of his duties as the movie's centerpiece by a brilliant Rosamund Pike. She's been good before, but what she accomplishes here is something special. She thoroughly succeeds at extracting visceral reactions from us. It's a role that could very easily veer into camp and take things in an unwelcome direction. She stands on the shoulders of Glen Close in Fatal Attraction, balances herself there and avoids falling into the sexual humor of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Don't get me wrong, Stone is great in that movie, but what she does is more likely to evoke laughter. Pike does not venture into such territory. If Fincher fills the cup to the rim then she is swimming around the concoction, doing laps at a high velocity without splashing. I'm not one given to quick and extreme hyperbole. In this case, however, I have no qualms putting this in the pantheon of all time great performances.

Our leads were not alone in their excellence. Earlier, I took some shots at Tyler Perry's directorial acumen, or lack thereof. In fairness, he's quite good in his role, here. He's more engaging than I've ever seen him outside of a dress and without the annoyance factor he tends to have when in drag. He brings levity to an almost relentlessly serious movie without resorting to buffoonery. Another nice surprise is a wonderfully creepy turn by Neil Patrick Harris. He's playing way against type. His work here is a long, long way from How I Met Your Mother and even further from The Smurfs. The real hidden gem, though, is Kim Dickens playing the detective investigating the case. She delivers a confident, understated performance that perfectly grounds each of her scenes, especially those with Affleck. She takes both the dramatic pause and delayed reaction to the level of high art. Nestled even deeper within the movie is a phenomenal two minutes by Sela Ward as a TV talk show host. It's a role sure to be forgotten, but I think she gave us one incandescent moment encapsulating the media storm around Ben Affleck's character. It comes a moment before she is to interview him and a moment after she's received some new information about him. The shit-eating grin she gets on her face is Oscar worthy all by itself.

Even with all those outstanding performances conveying the material in perfect pitch, and the wonderful score I haven't even mentioned, it all comes back to David Fincher and that ending. On the surface, at its most literal, it's a bit of a shock to the system. Some will love it, some won't. At deeper levels it becomes commentary and metaphor. Exactly what the commentary and metaphor are is open to debate. It most easily lends itself to being interpreted as a scathing indictment of the institution of marriage. I've also heard it labeled as misogynistic. I don't agree with that assessment, but I understand how one might get that idea. Whether or not you buy into that, the true beauty of Gone Girl is that the ending is worthy of our debate and not what we were expecting to happen. That it goes against the grain is a victory in itself. That it invokes an immediate need for discussion is what makes it great.

18 comments:

  1. Brilliant review! Gone Girl caused quite a controversy in my family with strong opinions on both sides, but personally, I loved it. I don't think I've ever felt the way I did during closing credits as when I did when I saw this.
    - Allie

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    1. Thanks. To me, the fact that it causes such strong opinions on both sides is what makes it a great movie. And yeah, it hits you as soon as the credits start rolling.

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  2. Wonderful review. This is an exceptional film...one of my favorites this year, for all the reasons you mentions!

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    1. Thanks. I had the best time I've had in a theater in ages watching this.

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  3. What a great review! I loved this movie, even more than the novel upon which is was based.

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    1. Thanks. High praise for a movie to say its better than the book.

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  4. I didn't like Harris' performance at all, but the rest of your review really nails it. Very well put and you really highlight why the film really works. My favourite performance by Affleck and Pike by far.

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    1. I thought Harris was perfectly weird. It worked for me. Oh, well. Thanks.

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  5. Wonderful review! This is definitely one of my favorites, and whoever thinks it's misogynistic missed the point and has apparently never read any of Gillian Flynn's novels.

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    1. Thanks so much. Yeah, I don't agree with the misogyny idea, but it is out there.

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  6. Awesome review! Loved Gone Girl so much! The movie almost did the book justice. Rosamund Pike was absolutely awesome and it helped that when I was reading the novel that I could picture Ben Affleck being Nick :)

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    1. Thanks a bunch. It's great, but sadly infrequent, for readers to champion a casting choice in the movie.

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  7. I love this film. I'm eagerly anticipating for the DVD/Blu-Ray release in the hopes that there's a bunch of extras.

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    1. I totally agree with this sentiment and I'm not even a guy who usually watches extras.

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  8. Great review and I'm so glad you liked it! I'm glad they didn't changed the ending, there were rumours it's gonna be different from the book but thankfully they didn't change much

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    1. Loved it. So far it seems this is one of those rare movies where the people who read the book first still like it.

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  9. Gone Girl has its disturbing moments, but vey entertaining. I hadn't seen characters written that way before. Glad you appreaciate it too! Now I want to read the novel it's based on. I agree the ending was interesting and unexpected, I'm afraid to say more out of fear of spoiling it for other readers here.

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    1. Yes, both disturbing and entertaining and extremely well written. Thank you so much for not spoiling the.movie, also. I tried really hard to keep from doing this.

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