Gone Girl and Why You Will Reconsider Marriage

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2014)

Director David Fincher has made a fantastic career out of making us uncomfortable with ourselves. He's exposed our love of materialism (Fight Club), our inherent "need" to be successful in the eyes of others (The Social Network), he even made us visualize what we would look like as old.....man babies (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Now he brings us his latest entry into his collection of the the shamefulness of man, Gone Girl.
Gone Girl surrounds Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) who returns home one day to find his home broken into and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) missing. The police are called and we are set off on a journey to find the "Amazing Amy"and complications arise as evidence begins to build up and we are to think that perhaps Nick isn't as innocent as he appears. We learn about who he and Amy were and how the developments of their relationship have led to her disappearance and the ensuing case.
For anyone that has read the novel version by Gillian Flynn (who also penned the screenplay) you will be deeply satisfied as the film is a truly loyal adaptation and worries over the news of a changed ending should be dismissed immediately. Affleck does an admirable job portraying Nick, but to be fair, this wasn't a particularly challenging role to play. That isn't taking anything away from Affleck because he did exactly what he had to do to be a convincing Nick. He had to be good looking, likable, a "good old boy" from Missouri who enjoyed a simple life with measured aspirations. There isn't anyone who could have played Nick better and when you see the film, you can't picture anyone else playing but Affleck. Similar to Mark Wahlbergs role in "The Fighter", Affleck serves as a vehicle for the meatier supporting performances of the characters around him.
That brings us to Rosamund Pike and her star making turn as Amy Dunne. Now, Amy is not a supporting role by any stretch, although you could argue she is in the first half, because if there is a true leading performance in this film it is her as Amy, one of the most interesting and complex female characters in recent memory. Pike has been around the business, but she falls under that category of "that girl from that thing" as she doesn't necessarily have any distinguishing features that set her apart from the other stunningly beautiful actresses of Hollywood. That is why she was the perfect person to play Amy. Amy Dunne is an enigma, the image of perfection and someone who has always managed to blend in anywhere and with anyone. She has been brought up to believe she was perfect (her parents profited off of her with a series of children's books known as the "Amazing Amy" series), and it has become part of her D.N.A. to manipulate herself around different people and different environments so she can never shake that image. Pike gives the right amount of sexy and sadistic...beautiful and bat sh** crazy.
We also get good work from Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry (surprisingly) but it all comes back to the man behind the camera, Mr. Fincher. Fincher just seems to do things differently from other directors and that's what has set him apart from others and why many of his films have come to have cult followings over the years. It is also why he has become one of the most wanted directors, not just by film companies, but by actors. People have recognized Finchers' unique ability to read an audience and know what to do to give them not only what they want, but what they need to see/hear/ and feel with his films. This is why he does things a little differently then others. This is why we see the likes of Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (who both won an Oscar for working on a previous Fincher film, The Social Network) because he knows they provide the "right" feel and sound for the film. This is why we find ourselves laughing throughout the film, not because what is happening is funny, but because it's uncomfortable and awkward and it's the only way we can find ourselves reacting to what happens on screen. This is why we do find the curious casting choices like Harris, Perry, and others. Not because he knows they will bring people into theaters, that is what Affleck is for, but because they are right.
What Fincher has done to us in this film is question the whole idea of marriage. This is the most dangerous date movie ever made because you will walk out of it forever questioning the intentions for your significant other. Anyone who is married knows that they have roles to play here and there and as the marriage goes on and you become used to your mate and their tendencies, where do you go from there? It may seem obvious because you would think that it is your mate and their tendencies that made you want to marry them in the first place, but does it all become an act after awhile? Is marriage merely a competition between two people to see who can not disappoint the other. Do we create these standards for marriage that see us always trying to perfect ourselves so that our loved ones don't begin to resent us and feel superior. "Gone Girl" makes marriage seem like a constant dick measuring contest and that it's really two people always trying to one up the other to prove they are the better spouse. It's exhausting to witness and think about....which makes it so....damn...good.
Hope the rest of your date goes well!.....