"Gone Girl" is a refreshing breath of fresh air, through perspective on genre that needed oxygen for quite some time.

Rating: 10/10 (5 October 2014)

Whenever I hear a rumors about an Oscar contention about a movie that I haven't seen it yet and I do not feel any type of interest after watching a trailer, I always come to a screening unsure what to expect and often my assumption is, that probably I will not like the movie. Specially if two main actors playing the leads do not belong to the group of actors I normally would spend the money to see. Mostly mainstream entertainment can be quite shallow, directed to mass audience which often is interested in form of easy going escapism rather then intellectual pursuit. I knew that "Gone Girl" was directed by David Fincher, director whom I deeply admire for his body of work, but anyone can have a bad day or a movie in his case. Fincher started in the commercial world and was known for his unique sense of visually narrative style that eventually translated in to a big Hollywood feature film career, arguably becoming top 5 best director in the business. Ben Affleck on the other hand is not my cup of tea. I always felt that he is overrated as an actor (his brother Casey Affleck in my opinion is much better actor) but got a second chance as a director and I think that is were he can develop further considering his earlier directorial success with Gone Baby Gone, The Town and specially Oscar winning Argo. Based on the casting alone I really thought that I will hate "Gone Girl" but how wrong was I. I underestimated intelligence of David Fincher and his understanding of the fact that movies are made in casting. What I mean by that, is that if you hire suitable actors to play a characters that in some way might be a part of who they are in real life they will be able to bring that persona to life and create a performances that are not forced, but rooted in truth, honed by the director who slowly becomes observer instead a parent figure that has to teach them how to act, or safe their performance in editing room. Rosamond Pike might get the nomination. The fact of her giving up on her vanity will help with that.
"On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?"
To be accurate with assessment of this film one word can describe in detail and that is SMART. Yes indeed!!! For movie that is 150 minutes long and you enjoy every minute of it, in fact you want more, that is success in itself. I will not write in-depth about the twists and turns of the story to not spoil the experience for you, but all I will say is that "Gone Girl" is arguably the smartest and most complex character driven story of this year and if that is not worth the Oscar contention then I don't know what is... The acting is superb from all the ensemble, developing reach and multi layered characterizations, staring with snobby yet charming Rosamund Pike who shows her dimensions in more way then one, possibly stealing the movie (and maybe getting Oscar contention in the process) in terms of performance. The support cast shines too but only serving the purpose of helping to unveil the complex story.
David Fincher's directorial taste needs to be credited with handling some of the most intense scenes with doze of huge technical know how using sound design and editing pacing of how to stimulate the senses of the audience without venturing in to the territory of the a bad taste. And indeed Fincher might be as Alfred Hitchcock 50 years before him a king of knowing how to build up a tension without reviling to much and keeping the audience guessing till the final scene. Big credit should also go to the editor Kirk Baxter who lets the scenes just run enough and stops them almost before most editors would, creating sense of anticipation and hight state of tension. This is why the pacing is just right and in general you can see that Fincher has a musical ear having music video background. By watching "Gone Girl" another Fincher's movie comes to mind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is a remake of 2009 Swedish drama thriller based on the novel of the same name by Swedish author/journalist Stieg Larsson (Män som hatar kvinnor – literally – Men who hate women) Indeed both films have a lot in common and that is the antipathy towards women. I don't know Fincher's family life, but judging from the movies he is selecting he might have some scorn towards female kind. Judgment aside "Gone Girl" is truly a movie that will surprise you and make you wonder were is the story going in the age of remakes and scripts written by the numbers. It is a refreshing breath of fresh air, through perspective on genre that needed oxygen for quite some time.
For more of my film reviews please go to: www.facebook.com/JanuszMadejTechnique