Brilliant, twisted satire!

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2015)

David Fincher might now be on my short list of directors where I can name at least 3 films that I consider brilliant! The first is 1997's "The Game", an early effort of Fincher's that I think many forget about. The second is 2010's 'The Social Network', which should have won Best Picture that year. And now there's this excellent offering GONE GIRL (2014), which in my opinion has more than lived up to the hype and acclaim. In fact, I dare say that 'Gone Girl' was shamelessly overlooked at the Oscars.
'Gone Girl' stars Ben Affleck in arguably the best performance of his career thus far. Affleck plays Nick Dunne, a failed writer forced to move from New York back to his small Missouri hometown due to financial trouble coupled with his mother's health problems. Accompanied by Nick is his wife Amy (brilliantly essayed by Rosamund Pike in a well-deserved Best Actress nominated performance). Financial woes cause Nick and Amy to have a very strained marriage. Amy gets money from her wealthy parents in order for Nick to buy a local bar that is co-run by Nick and his twin sister Margo (pitch perfect performance by Carrie Coon). Very early in the film, Nick discovers their home ransacked and Amy missing and calls the cops. The lead investigator is Det. Rhonda Boney (excellently played by Kim Dickens) and her partner is Off. Jim Gilpin (cheekily played by Patrick Fugit of 'Almost Famous' fame). Boney implores Nick to contact Amy's uppercrust parents (fine performances by David Clennon and Lisa Banes) from New York to fly down to Missouri. The cops and family set up a headquarters and the search for Amy begins.
Of course Nick is soon the main suspect in the investigation and it's not long before he must enlist the aid of media-loving defense lawyer Tanner Bolt (played with flair and confidence by Tyler Perry). The investigation into Amy's disappearance jumpstarts the film's storytelling structure, which involves many flashbacks of Amy and Nick's encounters both pre and during marriage. The segues between past and present are done in a seamless way that I found refreshing. Not the traditional, obvious way of nonlinear storytelling. And Pike's superb narration of Amy's thoughts are a huge component of these flashbacks. A key figure that emerges during the case is Amy's high school sweetheart Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris in a strong, convincing turn).
When I saw the trailers for this film, I expected it to be yet another twisty murder mystery with suspect after suspect and a cliché resolution. But it was far from that. In actuality, 'Gone Girl' is a stunning satirical swipe at marriage, male-female relationships (whether romantic, familial, or platonic), and the brainwashed society that we unfortunately all live in due to media manipulation. It not only takes a general jab at high-profile national cases like the Scott Peterson, Casey Anthony, and O.J. Simpson scandal-mysteries, but also works as an indictment on the stereotypical humdrum institution that is married life. 'Gone Girl' looks at the how and why everything went wrong. We never get that as casual observers of the biased reporting from network "news". This film shows us!
The media part comes into play in the form of two key characters: a "Nancy Grace" style national news anchor Ellen Abbott (wonderfully played by Missi Pyle) and an "Oprah/Barbara Walters" style network interviewer Sharon Scheiber (solidly played by Sela Ward), both women who of course spin the story from Amy's point of view and try to paint Nick in an unflattering light as a cheating, abusive husband. The cheating part involves Andie Fitzgerald (hilariously played by Emily Ratajkowski), a 20-year old local college girl, one of Nick's students, that he is having an affair with. Another strong female character, Greta, is played with unapologetic sex appeal by Lola Kirke. I can't remember the last time that a film was filled with so many spot-on, perfectly cast female characters! And each of them have distinct enough personality to make them unique and interesting in their own way.
The sharp, witty screenplay was adapted from the book, both penned by Gillian Flynn, who was robbed of a Best Screenplay nod. Fincher's direction is brilliant, another glaring oversight. The movie is 2.5 hours long and there's not a dull moment to be had watching it. That accomplishment alone deserves recognition by the Academy! Affleck is rock solid as the film's protagonist and I like how he sheds his clean, glamorous, hero image to play a rather put-upon, ineffectual, loser-ish, yet sympathetic character. I usually have a hard time believing such a recognizable, star actor in such an unflattering, low-key role, but Affleck pulled it off. Perry and Harris delivered strong, convincing performances as well. I would also say that both Coon and Dickens were robbed of Supporting Actress nods. At least Pike got a nomination for Best Actress and based off of her incredible work in this film, I'd say the Academy gave the Oscar to the wrong person yet again!