Engrossing and compulsive viewing

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2014)

***The spoiler is in the final paragraph***
The film is really long (two and a half hours) but given that there are about three or four stories to tell, it never seems that long.
I say the film is engrossing and compulsive viewing because you definitely can't stop watching it but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is good viewing. I kept trying to figure out what the theme of the film was. At various points I thought the story was about gender equality, then I thought it was about how events become twisted in the media and how people are villainised and scrutinised by the general public, then I thought it was just a murder mystery until finally, I realised that there really weren't any genuine themes to the story. It's completely all over the place and basically a cr*pshoot hoping that something will stick. It's impossible for this film not to generate hours of discussion and dissection amongst some people because almost every theme imaginable has been superficially included.
Ben Affleck's character behaved very strangely during the investigation - even if you're not happy in your marriage (which is explained at the beginning) this wouldn't explain his lack of engagement with the police and the lack of emotion he displayed. There was absolutely no shock or sense of urgency on his part and from the way the film played out, it appears that this was the case only to keep the viewer guessing about certain issues. Essentially: some things happened only to enable the script to keep the viewer guessing.
There were a few random women-hating comments thrown in, likely just to kick up a discussion with feminists, yet at no point was this expanded upon and at no point did I feel that Affleck's character was actually a woman-hater so this character flaw of his made no sense whatsoever.
Absolutely terrific acting by Rosamund Pike. I thought everyone involved produced some fantastic acting but especially Rosamund. I think she committed really well to every scene. I didn't understand her character's motivations though. Her narration tried to explain them but it didn't make sense and the blanket, and frankly lazy, excuse of 'psychopath' only explains one or two actions she committed, but certainly not one of the planned events on her calendar.
I do feel that too many themes were included making the film a bit of a mess in terms of having a serious point of discussion for viewers, however; after about ten or fifteen minutes, the story is simply too engrossing to worry about any of that and I actually like that the long run time allowed for more story development and crazy things to happen.
The ending did feel a bit like 'ok, two and a half hours is enough, let's leave it there now' because nothing extraordinary or interesting happened at the absolute final scene. In my opinion, it would have been a better ending had Affleck's character had a heart to heart with his sister about doing the right thing, and as a result then practised his speech in the mirror while Rosamund's character then made her big announcement during the live interview at which point, there would be serious tension and a terrific acting opportunity for the main characters whilst Affleck's character decided on how to react.
Ultimately, it's a must-see yet instantly forgettable so 7/10.