excellent story for the most part but with a too unlikely ending

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2014)

Little doubt that David Fincher's propensity for too long films has reached its highest point, because Gone Girl, for the most part, feels like an excellent thriller trapped within the confines of a bloated drama. The movie has a thoroughly lethargic pace holding the viewer at arms length for much of its 149 minute (too long) running time, with this vibration certainly supported by an opening hour suffering from a scarcity of electrifying moments. It's certainly clear that the flick benefits from David Fincher's typically meticulous sense of style. There are, it has to be said, a few stretches heightened by Fincher's directorial style. However the prolonged finale ultimately confirms Gone Girl's place as an entertaining but relentlessly padded-out piece of work, and it is now difficult to imagine that Fincher's output will ever again reach the heights of early efforts like Se7en and The Game.