Gone Girl

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2016)

Gone Girl an adaption of the stunning 2012 novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn. It chronicles the aftermath of Amy Elliot-Dunne (Pike) disappearing on her fifth wedding anniversary, and in flashback how she and Nick Dunne (Affleck) first met.
The casting is brilliant. Pike captures Amy's chameleon nature, while Affleck is suitably sympathetic but aloof. Carrie Coon makes Go a very likable character, while Detective Boney is handled well in Kim Dickens' hands.
Despite a hefty running time, Gone Girl does not have a dull second. The twisty-turny plot keeps you on the edge of your seat with the shocks played out in much the same way as the book. Altogether, it's a very faithful adaption with only some superfluous detail left out for simplicity. A treat for fans of the book is the slightly reworked ending. The only original material in the entire movie is reserved for the closing moments, giving those familiar with Flynn's original an opportunity to be left wondering what's going to happen next, one more time.
Although the transposition from page to screen was virtually flawless, Gone Girl loses something in movie form. The twists are slightly less sudden and shocking; the subtlety of the relationship's transformation over the years is less intricate; and the ambiguity of who to support is less pronounced. It loses some of its complexity in determining the heroes and villains, and for that reason it doesn't quite live up to the source material.