Not Hitchcock

Rating: 6/10 (13 October 2014)

This is a riddle wrapped in an enigma and I'm not just talking about Amy Dunne. The movie is basically the undoing of Nick Dunne, a cheating husband. It slowly becomes apparent, in spite of himself, the problem is he married the wrong woman to leave. The story that ensues is in parts both plausible and implausible where both are treated as one and the same. At many moments the story reels itself in with the believable, cloaking it's absurdity almost expertly. Almost is the key word here, much requires more than a modicum of suspension of belief.
Using a failing marriage as the cauldron of resentment inside Amy Dunne is certainly believable. The extreme manipulation she goes about creating her own disappearance/re-appearance is at turns brilliant before veering into the insulting. Amy becomes a murderer, or was she always so mentally unstable, under the radar, she was destined to no less? As things unfold who she really is builds.
Gone Girl insults the police and media, two groups that in their whole deserve to be held under the microscope. Both come off so self-serving inept, even criminal, the writers veer into comedy to shroud the ample silliness. While the media today has gone tabloid sensationalist driven and deserve the ridicule one still hopes there is no earthly way that law-enforcement can be this stupefyingly dumb and corrupt. Yet, even that is wrapped into that shard of fact that many innocent people get railroaded.
So, Gone Girl may not be all that it aspires to. Viewers certainly must "dumb down" what is accepted as possibly believable, it does keep the viewer watching because what may come next is never really given up too early. The craziness of the story, thus, moves slow and is rolled in things that could be which helps. As far as bringing this somewhat "hard-to-swallow" ride to the quite alright open-ending requires talent and finesse. The cinematography is fine for such a story never being too defined or bright, totally right for a modern mystery. However, in the end it's the acting. Ben Affleck nails the often befuddled Nick Dunne who lost so many pieces of himself in his marital ride he struggles to regain his life. Rosamund Pike plays the America's Sweetheart writer character Amy Dunne to perfection going from precious to psychopathic maniacal manipulator, and murderess, morphing from an intelligent beauty to Satan himself. Tyler Perry hits the right notes on what could be any present day high-powered legal defender. Neal Patrick Harris plays the guy that lost the girl only to over-achieve financially - still never getting over his lost love which, almost comedic-ally and ignorantly leads to his murder. And, finally, Nick's sister Margo, played by Kim Dickens is the sibling we'd all love to have in times good and bad. The cast gets a big "thumbs-up" for keeping the non-sense so much more compelling than it has any right to. Thus, in the end, I think there is good acting that acts as a catalyst in raising the viewer's interest and entertainment value. If this could be accomplished without the mis-steps of low credibility as far as the story goes Gone Girl would get a 8 or so, in the end it is less though still enjoyable. Almost, but not quite, Hitchcok worthy.