Fincher doesn't make bad films

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2015)

I find David Fincher's films based on fiction (like Fightclub) more imaginative versus his non-fictional projects (Social Network), and I'd put him alongside today's top directors like Aronofsky and Nolan easily. Gone Girl (adapted from the novel by Gillian Flynn) touches on marriage/relationship themes like other notable films (Revolutionary Road, American Beauty, Eyes Wide Shut), but with deeper satire and an 'up to date' stance. Fincher has a way of reflecting the more interesting parts (and dark corners) of the collective consciousness (especially Americans) in a humorous way, sometimes veering towards an artistic activism of sorts (but its just 'entertainment' and simply pointing out issues will not magically make them go away). I wasn't sold on Rosamund Pike's performance until later in the film and it was nice to see a more raw and fanatical version of her than usual. This film's attitude and satire reminded me of films by Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), plus older films like Heathers (Michael Lehman) and Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone). Gone Girl is ambitious in that it reaches for a wider audience in obvious and more subtle ways, infusing the 'law of reflection' to play with our minds (notably challenging our perception of who the antagonist is)- there are no 'winners', just human beings perceiving from their own experience (nicely balanced male and female point of view), resulting in a zero sum score. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide an appropriate and subtle soundtrack.