MYST #3: Gone Girl

When I heard that David Fincher was coming out with a new movie, needless to say I got excited. And when I saw the trailer, that feeling only moved up to ecstatic. I got the first chance I could to see the new Gone Girl, and to say the least, I was not disappointed.

Gone Girl, 2014
Director: David Fincher
Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike
Click here to watch official trailer

David Fincher has made his fame with such psychological, dark and twisting films as Fight Club and Se7en, and after seeing this, his fans can proudly add Gone Girl to this very successful list. As stated in the trailer, the movie starts out following the story of Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck, whose wife goes missing at the beginning of the film; and he soon enough becomes the prime suspect in the case. What the trailer doesn't show is the other side of the story, what ends up happening to the wife Amy, played by British Rosamund Pike--and that is where the story becomes really Fincher-worthy.

Because the movie takes so many crazy twists and turns I'm going to avoid the rest of the plot line so I don't spoil anything, but let me just say it is an absolutely amazing story in itself, keeping you on the edge of your seat the entire viewing.

Rosamund Pike, playing Amy Dunne

As for acting, Ben Affleck was as usual great as Nick Dunne, pulling off the two sides of him that seem to come out at the beginning, when we don't know whether to trust him or not. It's a very honest performance, playing the part of a man conflicted in his marriage, life, and relationships with those around him. As for Rosamund Pike, it was a phenomenal role played exactly right. During the first half of the movie, I hated her acting, finding it cold and one-dimensional, but once you really get to know Amy the character, you see how amazing of a job she's done. She finds just the right angles of Amy's personality to exploit and bring out, and, once again I'll hold back from plot as not to spoil anything, but she she plays the character you remember to hate with the acting you can't forget. I'd definitely be expecting to here her name again at this year's upcoming Academy Awards.

 The one acting job in this movie that I actually didn't like was that of Neil Patrick Harris. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of his. I loved him in How I Met Your Mother for nine seasons straight, and he was hilarious the entire time through. But it seems that, coming out of that iconic role, that's the only thing he knows how to play anymore. His acting is shallow and his romantic or dramatic lines are almost insincere. Quite frankly, it felt like he was playing his HIMYM character of Barney but in an awkward, sarcastic serious kind of way. I was disappointed, and I hope he can make a comeback in his career and really improve with it.

Notice the ironic resemblance to the famous
Rolling Stone cover of John Lennon
wrapped around Yoko Ono 

To avoid ruining any plot line, I'm not going to choose a specific scene to mention but instead a certain cinematic technique. The movie is set up in a back-and-forth kind of way, changing scenes from two different perspectives of the story: between the present and future. The scenes switch from telling the story of Amy's disappearance and the days that follow, in the present, and the story of Amy and Nick, from falling in love to getting married to falling apart, all told through her diary entries, in the past. I absolutely loved this technique of juxtaposition. It begins the current conflict while setting up the backstory at the same time; as we follow the story of Amy disappearing and how Nick is dealing with it, we also get insight into what kind of a couple they were, formulating our ideas of the two as well as our interpretations of what is going on and our guesses of what will happen. It certainly keeps the audience thinking and interested in where the movie will go.

Overall, I'd say I definitely loved this movie and STRONGLY advise anyone who is interested to go see it. I'd say it is, hands down, the best movie I've seen of 2014. Fincher's directing is amazing as ever, and I'd definitely expect a few Oscar nominations.

Overall, I'd give this a solid 8.7/10.