Amazing Amy and her horrible husband.

Rating: Null/10 (13 October 2014)

This Twentieth Century Fox film was directed by David Fincher, who has previously directed 'Se7en' (1995), 'The Game' (1997), 'Fight Club' (1999) and 'Panic Room' (2002).
This reviewer, having seen the trailer, thought that the plot about a man whose wife goes missing, offered nothing new. Planning not to watch it, I was advised instead to go and see it.
Gillian Flynn wrote both the novel and the screenplay. New Orleans born Reese Witherspoon, seen in the recent 'Mud' (2012), is a producer. The film is partially set in southern USA.
Film opens with some slow scenes, which are often very yellowy in colour, the music is rather intrusive, the male and female leads are both rather bland and uninteresting. Thus these early scenes in the first-half of the film, did not fill me with confidence.
Having seen the trailer, and been put off by it, when I decided to go, I looked at the plot of the missing wife, looked at the possible scenarios, and made my call. About half-way through the film, I realized that I had called it right. However, dear reader, I had been lulled into a false sense of security. This was merely the starting point, as the film then went off in different directions. Nothing less should have been expected from Director David Fincher, and this film is on a par with his previous work, so prepare for the earlier blandness to give way to complexity.
The plot has the husband Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck, returning home to find his wife missing. He calls the police and a search gets under way. At first kidnap is suspected, but later husband Nick is suspected of murdering his own wife. The wife Amy is played by London-born Rosamund Pike. Whilst both start with rather bland performances, which I now realize must have been deliberate, as the complexity develops, so too does their acting. Mr Affleck has given great performances in 'Argo' (2012), in 2009 in 'He's Just Not That Into You' and 'State of Play', and in 1997 in 'Good Will Hunting' and by strange coincidence was also in a film called 'Chasing Amy'.
Neil Patrick Harris of the 'How I Met Your Mother' TV series has a small part. So too does Tyler Perry, another New Orleans-born actor, who reminded me of Seinfeld's Phil Morris playing Jackie Chiles, who is a parody of the real-life Johnny Cochran. While not as funny as the Jackie Chiles character, Mr Perry's character is entertaining whilst also convincing. Mr Perry's 2012 'Alex Cross' was also convincing but that film was spoilt by poor action scenes.
Whilst good performances were given by both Mr Harris and Mr Perry, 'Gone Girl' has some really good and strong female characters. Kim Dickens, Lola Kirke, Casey Wilson, and Emily Ratajkowski who is another London-born actress, all gave good performances. However, for me, the stand-out performance of the film was from Carrie Coon, who plays a sister. Her acting was utterly convincing throughout the film. The interaction between the siblings was also totally believable and realistic.
The 'Gone Girl' game-plan, like that Brad Pitt thought he had in 'Se7en', like that Michael Douglas thought he had in 'The Game', is not what it seems. For once the trailers show you what you are expecting to see, then the film twists your preconceptions like a pretzel.
Film contains a fair bit of sexual and violent content, and plenty of blood, hence it's UK 18 rating, but also a spot of humour that the audience enjoyed too.
If you have enjoyed the work mentioned previously of actor Ben Affleck and Director David Fincher, then 'Gone Girl', despite a slightly bland title, is an entertaining and exciting film, on a par with their previous work, and thus well worth seeing. 8/10.