Gone Girl (18)

Directed by David Fincher
Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Tyler Perry

I started reading the book of Gone Girl over the summer, but about 5 or 6 chapters in it wasn't grabbing me and I had already heard Fincher's movie was coming. He is definitely a director who is always worth following, and adding Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, two actors I like, I decided to wait and be surprised. I think this was probably a good choice as this was a film that had me totally gripped and uncertain where it was going with lots of plot teists and turns.
This is a lengthy 2 1\2 hour or so film, but as a thriller and an exploration of a seemingly perfect marriage gone badly off the rails, it was engrossing throughout. Pike and Affleck are excellent and great to see meaty supporting roles for Kim Dickens as the investigating cop and Carrie Coon - so excellent in The Leftovers on TV - as Affleck's slightly too young looking twin sister. Funny men Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris are also very good in totally non-comic roles.
This is a film that keeps you guessing right til the end, and with Fincher's provokative, unflinching style it is uncomfortable viewing at times. Now I'm going to have to read the rest of the book so I can compare! I love the conversations to be had over the characters of Amy and Nick and the different ways men and women view them and their actions.
One of the best films I've seen in a while but not for the squeamish! Lots of work for the fake blood team! 8/10

October 2014


Back to Movies page
Back to main page