Gone Girl - Review

Gone Girl.

DISCLAIMER: I did NOT read the book before or since seeing the film so this review is based solely off of the film.

Gone Girl is a mystery film directed by David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club) based on Gillian Flynn's book of the same name. The story follows Nick Dunne played by Ben Affleck who finds his wife is missing and becomes a prime suspect and public enemy number one in the process of trying to find her.

The main thing that this movie has going for it is the real suspense of knowing whether or not Dunne murdered or had to do with the disappearance of his wife Amy. Dunne is the first character we meet in the film and we gravitate toward him and see him as a protagonist and unconsciously believe he couldn't have killed his wife. The movie is absolutely excellent at making you doubt the prior statement and really begins to make you question whether or not he did and takes you along for the ride like you're a detective in the case. Once this suspense is lost, the movie and the story begin to drift.

The second thing this film has going for it is its performances. Everyone did a magnificent job, Affleck and Rosamund Pike (Amy Dunne) included but I wanted to mention someone I never thought I'd mention in the same sentence when it comes to the phrase "good acting": Tyler Perry. Yes, the man behind all of the Madea movies has some real acting chops. Perry impressed me and from what I've read from other critics, I'm not the only one. As a big shot lawyer who agrees to take on Nick Dunne's case, Perry convinces Nick and the audience that somehow, everything will be alright. Also my man, and everyone's man, Neil Patrick Harris is in the film and while he was great in his role, I felt the role was too small and rather underdeveloped for as good of an actor as Harris is. This criticism is based off of his character we get in the film as I'm sure the character in the book got more development than what was able to be shown.

The first act of this movie is phenomenal and if it was a short film of just the first hour, this would one of the best short films ever. The second act is questionable as the decisions made by the author were ones I did not like and the third act of this story really doesn't do much for me. Without giving anything the end of the movie was less than perfect and I've had multiple conversations about it with multiple people and it does succeed in getting you to talk about it long after the movie is over. There's not much that can be said without spoiling major plot points and in the honor of my "no spoiler' decree on my blog, I won't spoil anything.

Replay Value: 1/5, honestly, after Gone Girl ended, I had no intention to ever watch it again. Once it ends and you know how it all unfolds, it takes away from the original viewing experience with the cat and mouse game played up in the first act of the film. Re-watching would take away all of the suspense and all of the mystery surrounding the missing girl that would really take away from the movie's strongest points.

Rating: 3/5