Gone Girl

Gone Girl proves what I have been saying all along- David Fincher is a top notch director who deserves to have his name up there with the other greats in Hollywood. Wow! I knew that this movie would be good but I had no idea just how good.

Gone Girl is based on a 2012 novel by Gillian Flynn, who also wrote the screenplay. I haven't read the book yet but from what I've heard it's a pretty faithful adaptation. The story is about a married couple named Nick and Amy Dunne (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike). On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing under mysterious circumstances. Nick displays some odd behavior and is of course the main suspect. The media goes crazy. Is Nick guilty or innocent? The way he's portrayed makes you think it could go either way at first. Just when you think you might have it all figured out, the movie takes some surprising twists and turns. I just love a good mystery/thriller.

Everyone in this movie was perfectly cast and gave unbelievable performances. I'm so happy Ben Affleck's career is going in the right direction now. His portrayal of Nick, from his emotions or lack of them right down to his facial expressions, leaves you wondering if he really did do it.

Rosamund Pike I think stands a very good chance of getting nominated for an Oscar. Her performance as Amy just blew me away. I wish I could tell you why but then I would be giving away some major spoilers.

But the person that surprised me the most was Tyler Perry. Who knew he could actually act? He plays Tanner Bolt, Nick's lawyer (think Johnnie Cochran). He could have easily played this character as over the top but he was very subtle and even humorous at times. You know that David Fincher is an amazing director when he can get a good acting performance out of Tyler Perry. They should give him the Best Director Oscar based on that fact alone.

Speaking of humor, there's surprisingly a decent amount of it spread throughout. The trailers are a little misleading when it comes to that. It never felt forced though.

Visually this movie is very dark which obviously fits with the tone. It goes well with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' hauntingly beautiful score. It's very much a David Fincher movie in that sense. But it's also a lot different than his previous work.

It feels like I've given out this rating a lot this year but Gone Girl definitely deserves this. I can't really think of any flaws. It's two and a half hours long but I was never bored. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I have a feeling it's going to be nominated for a lot of awards this year. At least I hope it is.

My Rating: 10/10