Did you see the movie Gone Girl last weekend? We went to dinner and then saw it with friends on Friday night and…
I didn’t love it. In hindsight, since I went into the movie not knowing what it was about (all I knew was that the book got great reviews and Ben Affleck was the lead), I was thrown off by the funny thriller/funny horror drama genre. Did anyone else have that reaction (or maybe I’m the only who hasn’t read the book)? At times throughout the movie, the audience would laugh and I would too–parts of the movie are funny–but I remember thinking That was seriously twisted…was it supposed to be funny? There are some uncomfortable observations by the director, David Fincher (best know for “Se7en” “Zodiac“), and author of the book and adapted screenplay, Gillian Flynn, about modern marriage, relationships and human nature and I guess I just wasn’t expecting it. I think I’ll appreciate it more the second time around :)
Here’s a short recap and the trailer:
“At first, “Gone Girl” seems to tell the story of a man who might or might not have killed somebody, and is so closed off and alienating (like Bruno Richard Hauptmann, perhaps) that even people who believe in his innocence can’t help wondering. His name is Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck). He’s a college professor and a blocked writer. His dissatisfied wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) disappears one day, prompting local cops to open a missing persons case that becomes a murder investigation after three days pass without word from her. Amy and Nick seemed like a happy couple. The snippets from Amy’s diary, read in voice-over by Amy and accompanied by flashbacks, hint at differences between them, but not the sort that seem irreconcilable (not at first, anyway). Were things ever really all that sunny, though? If they weren’t, which spouse was the main source of rancor? Can we trust what Nick tells the homicide detectives (Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit, both outstanding) who investigate Amy’s case? Can we trust what Amy tells us, via her diary? Is one of the spouses lying? Are they both lying? If so, to what end?” via Roger Ebert
Will you see it? Have you? What did you think?
(Image from The Huffington Post.)