Gone Girl is a surprisingly weak film for the usually excellent David Fincher. We consumed the book by Gillian Flynn in a manner of days, with the letdown that is the third act, but Fincher's entire adaptation is unconvincing and goes nowhere. We just wanted Gone Girl...gone.
Perhaps it's a victim of too much hype, but when you look at Fincher's body of work such as Seven, Fight Club and The Social Network, this is not in the same league. It's an intriguing tale, looking inside the car crash body of a marriage, but there's no engagement between the leads Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) - even when we first meet them as they meet each other. They're just not believable.
When his wife goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick reacts 'normally' and calls the police. The finger of accusation soon points as the clues stack up against him. Affleck just seems to be going through the motions, whilst Pike does not play Amy to the levels that are needed for this complex character. The only real spark comes from Tyler Perry, when he enters as Nick's attorney Tanner Bolt.
You may or may not know about the twist in this story. We won't give any spoilers here but when it does come, it's so weak on film, you may well feel 'is that it?'. Really?! Flynn's novel played it beautifully, but the shock value just doesn't translate to screen. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's score tries hard to be suitably creepy at the right moments, fair play to them; it just doesn't match what's happening on screen and how bland it is. There's one moment of unspeakable violence, but by then you'll be beyond caring.
There's a very cute ginger cat in it. He's worth it.
2/5 side Affleck *cough*
Gone Girl is a surprisingly weak film for the usually excellent David Fincher. We consumed the book by Gillian Flynn in a manner of days, with the letdown that is the third act, but Fincher's entire adaptation is unconvincing and goes nowhere. We just wanted Gone Girl...gone.
Perhaps it's a victim of too much hype, but when you look at Fincher's body of work such as Seven, Fight Club and The Social Network, this is not in the same league. It's an intriguing tale, looking inside the car crash body of a marriage, but there's no engagement between the leads Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) - even when we first meet them as they meet each other. They're just not believable.
When his wife goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick reacts 'normally' and calls the police. The finger of accusation soon points as the clues stack up against him. Affleck just seems to be going through the motions, whilst Pike does not play Amy to the levels that are needed for this complex character. The only real spark comes from Tyler Perry, when he enters as Nick's attorney Tanner Bolt.
You may or may not know about the twist in this story. We won't give any spoilers here but when it does come, it's so weak on film, you may well feel 'is that it?'. Really?! Flynn's novel played it beautifully, but the shock value just doesn't translate to screen. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's score tries hard to be suitably creepy at the right moments, fair play to them; it just doesn't match what's happening on screen and how bland it is. There's one moment of unspeakable violence, but by then you'll be beyond caring.
There's a very cute ginger cat in it. He's worth it.
2/5 side Affleck *cough*
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