Back in 2012 Gillian Flynn’s novel Gone Girl was released and it was one of the most popular books of the year. That doesn’t mean that it was necessarily good, just that lots of people bought it. I own the book but it’s sat on my shelf gathering dust because my friends won’t stop hounding me until I finish the books they recommend like Wise Man’s Fear. When I heard that it was being made into a movie I grabbed the book off my shelf, but after a moment of deliberation, I put it back and walked away. It’s not a good idea to read a book before seeing the movie, not if you can help it. Harry Potter, though they were good movies, left out a lot and while Ender’s Game was entertaining, it was a poor representation of a fantastic book. When I sat down to watch Gone Girl I went in blind and I’m glad I did.
I try not to swear in any of my blogs because I like to try and stay family friendly, so I apologize for the following sentence. Gone Girl fucked with my mind. It messed with it so bad that even after all the answers were revealed, I still wasn’t sure if I could trust the information I was given. The overall story telling and pacing of the movie was fantastic and it’s killing me to keep all the secrets to myself, but in the interest of my spoiler-free promise, let me just say this: Questions are answered as the movie progresses and new ones keep popping up. This wasn’t that old style mystery where everything is revealed during a climactic fireside speech given by some almost clairvoyant detective. Gone Girl always had you questioning something. You know me, I hate predictability. But there was nothing predictable about Gone Girl. I was engrossed in this movie from the very first scene to when the credits started rolling.
The character complexity gave me a writing boner. There were multiple layers to each character which is one of the reasons I couldn’t predict the outcome. In my opinion there were only three people that were completely innocent which meant that the other six major players were sketchy at best. When you go and watch this movie you’ll find that there are no bad characters. If you read my Maze Runner review you may remember that I thought that there were characters the movie could have done without. That was not the case with Gone Girl. Every role was needed and if anyone had been taken out or played by a different actor then I truly believe that the movie wouldn’t have been as amazing as it was. Everyone from Ben Affleck to Sela Ward, who had a minor role, did nomination worthy work.
It’s time to talk about the acting and let me start by saying that Ben Affleck gets a bad rap. He was amazing in Gone Girl. In fact he’s been fantastic since Hollywoodland back in 2006. It’s just that the public can’t seem to forgive him for Daredevil or Gigli. I personally think he’ll be great as Batman. Heck, he can’t be any worse than George Clooney. But I digress. Ben Affleck did such a good job as Nick Dunne that if he had walked up to me after the movie I’m not sure how I’d have reacted. I’m not one of those morons that get mad at an actor for the actions of their character like people yelling at Liam Neeson for his role in Schindler’s List, but I would have had to take a moment to come down off the high the movie gave me so I could be somewhat normal around him. Though I do tend to freak out when I meet celebrities. I met Chris Hardwick and I almost froze. So if Ben Affleck walked up to me I may just faint.
Let me change paragraphs to mention the other actors. I don’t want their accomplishments lost in the midst of my gushing over Ben Affleck. Roasumnd Pike has always been a favorite of mine and she is great on two fronts. First, she’s gorgeous. To quote the show Archer: Sploosh. I’ve been crazy for her since her role as Miranda Frost in Die Another Day. Her performance of Amy Dunne should, at the very least, get her nominated for an Oscar. Again, I can’t say too much without giving away key plot points, but her performance was like nothing I’ve ever seen from her before. The same goes for Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry. They too wowed me from their very first scene. I’m not a fan of the movies Tyler Perry spearheads, like the Madea movies, as I see them as cliches stuffed with stereotypes, but his performance was as far from Madea as you can get . Neil Patrick Harris gives a performance like nothing I’ve ever seen from him before and I pray that he gets more roles like these. I love his comedy but drama is where he thrives.
I want to briefly mention a newcomer that deserves to be special nod. Carrie Coon plays Margo Dunne, Nick’s sister, and she simply blew me away. Her performance was the best one in Gone Girl. I don’t want to take away from Affleck, Pike, Harris, or Perry, but if the movie had been a competition, then she won. Coon’s character ran the gamut of emotions from hilarious to a single heartbreaking scene that just can’t get out of my head. If you look her up on IMDB you’lll see that she only has 7 acting credits to her name and all but two of them are one shot appearances on TV shows. I don’t know where she’s been this whole time but I need to see more of her.
If it’s not already clear, this movie is getting a high score. I actually sat in front of my computer debating how high of a score to give it. The only reason I’m not turning this one up to 11 is because while it was a great movie I still wanted a little more. Maybe I’m being greedy but I thought Neil Patrick Harris should have had one or two more scenes to round out his character a bit more. Also I wanted to see a bit more development between Nick (Affleck) and Detective Boney (Kim Dickens) since their relationship changed a few times but the last change needed a bit more justification for me. Lastly I wanted one last scene with Amy’s parents because I feel that they had a little more to offer than what was shown on the screen. Let me point out how minor the three things I just listed were. It’s why if Gone Girl got a report card it would get an A instead of an A+. Gone Girl is a movie everyone should see. If you have the chance, then see it in the theaters but if you just can’t manage it, then watch it at home. Just be ready for a very heavy movie that, at times, gets pretty uncomfortable.
Gone Girl gets a 10 out of 11