Rated R. For Ridiculous.

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2014)

Gone Girl focuses on the bizarre and destructive plans of a sociopathic children's author, plotting to frame her hated, philandering husband for murder by disappearing, and then possibly doing herself in or committing unspeakable crimes on the lam.
This film should be commended for the sheer amount of characterization, the realistic (ie: suburban, drab) production values and the sheer amount of story detail and facts included in the story. It really has content, or strives to, over sheer filmic style and none of the, you know, computerized special effects, which are the modern hallmark of Corporate Hollywood.
The film is also, however, totally ridiculous. As if someone had strived to synthesize Silence of the Lambs with an old fashioned Hitchcock thriller (Vertigo, anyone?) and the results were unintentionally funny.
Not just a crime thriller, but also a marital drama, something of a horror pic and there's an ongoing (ultimately repetitive, and annoying) parallel story about local newsmongers framing events, putting sensationalist spin on the disappearance/unsolved crime and of course all kinds of assumptions about gender roles and marital abuse. About 60 percent of screen-time is dedicated to stock procedural scenes of police and journalist types mulling through clues, interview accounts, photos and literally bags of trash to get details on missing kids author Amy Dunne.
This film is TRASHY - every other scene is packed with sex, foul language and gratuitous crime drama details, somehow the whole affair seems palatable due to the mature, nuanced dialogue and the ever present 'realism' via hand held shots, underexposed color and suburban drabness.
As I mentioned, the film is dedicated to a realist aesthetic, but ultimately, the movie just doesn't know how to end itself - I won't spoil any details, but clearly Fincher and co. thought Gone Girl's antagonist was just too interesting for justice, which is what the audience actually wants.
Basically I don't recommend this film as essential viewing. It goes for two and half hours, and after sitting through extensive plot twists and character reveals concludes in an incomprehensible ending, leaving you wondering how you ever bought into the films absurd premise and muddy plot motivations. Gone Girl is a character driven movie with an ending that sucks.