3.5 stars out of 5
This was a rare instance where I was thinking “I am not really enjoying this movie” and then later, thought, “No, wait, I am enjoying it.”
Now, I didn’t read the book Gone Girl. Truth be told, until the movie came out, I didn’t even know there was a book called Gone Girl. When I saw that Ben Affleck was involved, I thought it might have something to do with Gone Baby Gone, which is taking up valuable space on my DVR so I really should watch it someday. Still, I dig thrillers, I don’t hate Affleck, and what really convinced me: the movie is directed by David Fincher. He made Fight Club, one of my all-time faves. (And Se7en, Zodiac, and The Social Network ain’t too shabby neither.) Plus, my Starpass rewards-card free ticket was expiring soon. OK, I’d give Gone Girl a gander.
Started off solid enough. I am certainly a sucker for down-on-their-luck small towns. (It did take me a while, though, to figure out that the movie was set in Missouri. I was thinking upstate New York till I heard police officers’ southern accents—and then I still wasn’t thinking midwest.) Affleck is griping about his wife and suddenly she’s, you know, gone. And we learn that Affleck is creepier than we first thought.
Except, I was finding both characters (via flashbacks because that girl is gone baby gone) to be pretty unlikable, and I’ve just been watching a search party on Gracepoint, so I wasn’t feeling really invested in this movie.
Ah, but then… stuff happens! And I won’t say WHAT happens because I hates me some spoilers! But it turns the movie on its ear and makes things fun again. In addition to being a thriller, we get an indictment of modern media’s scandal-lust and the so-easily-manipulated court of public opinion. There are several laughs too. And in one late, strong scene, Fincher really gets to be Fincher. He’s the finchiest!
Strong performances all around: Affleck, Rosamund Pike (who is gone, daddy, gone), that chef lady from Treme as a skeptical police detective, that woman who had a gun in her purse in The Leftovers as Affleck’s hipster sis, Neil Patrick Harris as a teenage doctor (ok, no, he’s a wealthy obsessed ex of the Gone Girl), and Tyler Perry, particularly good as a high-stakes, TV-friendly, scandal-lovin’ attorney.
If there’s a flaw with the movie (and maybe the book? I dunno!), it’s a bit too long and doesn’t seem to know where or how to end. Maybe that’s part of the point? (As Wings once sang: “There is no end.”) So, a little unsatisfying, especially after a long movie and did I mention there was NO HEAT in the theater so I had my jacket over me like a blanket? No worries, because as a result I got another FREE TICKET. Winner!
Jack Silbert, curator