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Gone Girl Movie Review: Gone Girl starring Ben Affleck & Rosamund Pike

Posted on January 2, 2015 Written by Pinar Tarhan

(There are some spoilers.)

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck)’s beautiful wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) is missing under suspicious circumstances. Police detective Boney (Kim Dickens) and officer Gilpin (Patrick Fugit) get right on the case, with Boney giving Nick the benefit of the doubt and Gilpin ready to blame Dunne.

As the audience we’re neither with Boney nor Gilpin: if he did it, it’s too obvious. If he’s innocent, also too obvious. But we know it’s a David Fincher movie, and it will probably not be black and white. And expectedly, things turn out to be all shades of grey:

While Nick tries to manage his in-laws and the media reaction with the help of his twin sister Go, we see he’s not exactly the doting husband he wants others to believe. He seems clueless about his wife’s daily activities, friends or diary, and to top of it all, he’s having an affair with a 20-year-old (and going to great lengths to hide it from others).

From the beginning of the movie, we have some flashbacks, with the voice-over from Amy, guiding us through their relationship, from the great start to troubling times, until we see Nick’s violent and dangerous side. And around the time cops are sure Nick’s behind her disappearance, and possibly murder, we hear this brilliant line from Amy:

“I’m so much happier now that I’m dead.”

So yes, she’s making a run for it to make Nick pay for being a lying, cheating bastard. And if you think she is taking things too far, just wait till you see how much further she’s willing to go, and how she handles her back-up plans…

Gone Girl is one crazy, psychotic mystery/thriller/drama that might make you question certain things in life, like how well you actually know the people you are with, how dangerous certain kinds of people can be and well, whether or not getting married is a sane idea in the first place.

Despite the original elements in its story, and some seriously fantastic acting from Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl is far from a smooth, fast ride. I’m aware that this was intentional, but the unevenness in pacing created moments, at least for me, where I struggled to stay engaged in the movie. It flows faster and better once we find out what Amy is up to, and how truly disturbed and calculating she is, but until then, I kept wishing some scenes were left in the editing room.

Because no matter how different and captivating a movie is, 149 minutes isn’t generally the amount I’m ready to give to a mystery/ drama/ thriller. Well-done epic movies? Sure. A decent piece in a trilogy where you don’t have the chance to get bored because every scene (and interaction) is necessary? Yeah.

But for me, Gone Girl would be even better at 139 minutes. Hell, at 129 or a little less, I could have jumped at the “masterpiece” wagon.

Because when a film is rated at 8.3 on IMDB (already grabbing a place on the site’s 250 best movies list) and has earned more than 350 million dollars at the box office against its 61 million budget, you want to be blown away by every second of the movie. There’s no place for boredom.

Call me sentimental, traditional or whatever, but I still prefer Se7en. At a little over 2 hours, it is tighter, creepier and has the more satisfactory ending. (Se7en is also on IMDB 250 and rated over 8 (8.7.,to be exact)-hence the comparison).

And the problem is with establishing your “villain” to be so brilliant is this haunting question: didn’t she have anything better to do with that Harvard degree and brain of hers than to take revenge? No attempts at world-domination? Trying to save the world or destroy it? And why let herself stoop to such a level if she is so awesome? Isn’t pretending to be someone else to find yourself a partner something losers, or at least very irrational people do?

Her motives and actions don’t match the IQ and OCD-thinking we’re given, and that’s another con if you think about the movie too much.

That said, I love Fincher, and this was a solid movie. But worth the rating and the box office-smashing? Not to me.

How did you feel about the movie? Please let me know in the comments.

Fun Gone Girl Trivia

The movie was written by Gillian Flynn, who adapted it from her own novel.
Scoot McNairy, our lovely protagonist from Monsters, plays one of Amy’s victims.
Director David Fincher (Fight Club), while mainly known for his dark mystery/thrillers (Se7en, Zodiac, Panic Room, The Game) has also found huge success with dramas (The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.)
In the shooting script, Nick Dunne is mentioned to be in his 30s. Ben Affleck is in his early 40s.
Some of Rosamund Pike’s films include Pride and Prejudice, Jack Reacher, Surrogates and Fracture.

Also on Ben Affleck

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

The Company Men starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Maria Bello & Kevin Costner

Also on Rosamund Pike

Surrogates starring Bruce Willis, Rosamund Pike & Radha Mitchell

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen

Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

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Fracture starring Ryan Gosling & Anthony Hopkins

Posted on February 9, 2012 Written by ripitup

Fracture Movie Poster — Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. 2007.

Fracture Premise

Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a very smart, rich and successful man married to the beautiful Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) who is many years his junior. Of course she is cheating on him with a guy close to her age- cop Robert Nunally (Billy Burke).

So Ted decides to kill his wife, destroy Rob and get away with it. He plans everything- from how Rob is the cop that shows up because there was a shooting in his house to how he will confess…

Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is a young and very successful prosecutor dying to move up to the corporate world. He has only one case left, and then he will leave for his glamorous new career.

The case seems easy enough- they have the weapon, the confession, the guy. They just don’t have the body since Jennifer has gone into a coma. But hey, they have everything they need. Moreover, the defendant, Ted, seems crazy enough to represent himself…

But of course Ted is a lot smarter and a lot more meticulous than they could have ever imagined. He plays his cards well, and he seems to have foreseen every move.

As the case goes on, and Willy gets to see Ted for who he really is, but both his relationship (with corporate lawyer Rosamund Pike) and career get jeopardized. How the hell can he win against Ted?

Worth Watching

Fracture is a real treat for the lovers of a solid legal thriller. The actors, unsurprisingly, do a great job. The script is so cool that you think it was probably adapted (and adapted well) from a bestseller. Sure, the movie has flaws, and I couldn’t have cared less about Willy’s romance with the gorgeous lawyer Nikki (Rosamund Pike), but bear with it.

Their relationship gives us a good idea about Willy, and it carries elements that move the plot forward. The villain is extremely clever and well-prepared, and well… the only reason the movie got 7.1 (and not an 8 on IMDB) is because people don’t agree on the ending. Frankly, I loved it. Watch it.

Directed by Gregory Hoblit, written by Daniel Pyne & Glenn Gers.

Fun Notes on the Cast

– English actress Rosamund Pike plays Elizabeth Bennet’s older/prettier/milder sister Jane in 2005’s movie Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is played by Keira Knightley.

– Cliff Curtis, who plays Rob’s partner, co-starred in Colombiana as the uncle of the main character (Zoe Saldana) and he also guest-starred in two episodes of Body of Proof as the love interest of the main character Megan Hunt (Dana Delany).

– Billy Burke, who plays the lover/cop, is Bella’s father in the Twilight series.

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen

Posted on April 21, 2010 Written by ripitup

Pride and Prejudice starring Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightley. One of the best romances ever. Photo: blog.lib.umn.edu

Starring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald Sutherland, Rosamund Pike, Brenda Blethyn, Carey Mulligan, Jena Malone, Simon Woods, Rupert Friend, Tom Hollander and Judi Dench

Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) lives in the early 19^th century England with her parents and 4 sisters. She gets along fine with the pretty and serene Jane (Rosamund Pike) and is amused by her 3 other sisters (Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan and Talulah Riley). She adores her father (Donald Sutherland) and tries to tolerate her mother (Brenda Blethyn )- who is very loud, very traditional and is dying to see all her daughters get married fast. Except Lizzy couldn’t have cared less. She loves reading, walking, dancing and having fun. She is not about to give up the idea on true love so that her mother can be happy.

When Mr. Bingley (Simon Woods), his sister and their friend Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) visit home, things are about to get a little complicated. Bingley and Jane instantly fall for each other. Elizabeth is not impressed by Darcy at all, who appears to be very full of himself. And no matter how rich, handsome and knowledgeable Darcy might be, Elizabeth won’t take any crap from anyone. But given Bingley’s love and her mother’s plans, she might have to see a lot more of Darcy than she planned. Then she meets the handsome soldier Wickham (Rupert Friend) who tells her that Darcy caused him great misfortune. But maybe Darcy isn’t that arrogant and proud. Maybe he is just misunderstood. It is not helping matters that he has declared his feelings for her…

Obviously there is a lot to the story than just the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth but it is the core that gives the story the name and the magic. There are many sub-plots featuring Elizabeth’s sister and the one featuring her best friend but let’s face it. Our number 2 concern is Jane and Bingley. And number 1 is obviously….yeah.

This version of Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is either in top 20 or top 10 and yeah, I watch a lot of movies. It has all the charming and addictive elements of an amazing period romance and it contains hilarious comic relief. The actors are perfectly cast and I wouldn’t replace anyone, had I been (magically) involved in the process. Matthew McFadyen and Keira Knightley were born to play Darcy and Elizabeth.

I love everything about this movie. The costumes, music, parties, location, houses…See it. Hell, it is 7.8 on imdb. How many other “chick flicks” that are rated that high? 10/10 from me.

Darcy is the guy that should give every boy in his right mind a nightmare. Why? You can read it here.

Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen — Pride and Prejudice, based on the novel of Jane Austen, was made in 2005. Directed by Joe Wright. Photo: fanpop.com

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Surrogates starring Bruce Willis, Rosamund Pike & Radha Mitchell

Posted on September 29, 2009 Written by ripitup

3682866912_1fa0e8d78c — Bruce Willis in Surrogates

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, the movie stars Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell and Rosamund Pike. It is set in our world, not in an alternate reality. It is set in today. Due to a technology developed over a decade ago, people are now able to live life through surrogates. Surrogates are the perfected robot versions of humans. People don’t even have to leave their homes. All they do is to sit back, stay connected to their surrogates and control them. Surrogates go to work, fight crime, have sex. There hasn’t been a real crime-one that hurt a real person-until now. A very expensive and higly complex weapon has been developed. It does not only destroy the surrogate; but also kills its operator as well. And who better to suspect than the human rebels who are governed by their leader The Prophet and are passionately against this whole concept that they find unnatural and disgusting?

The movie involves a dramatic sub-story as well. FBI agent Greer (Bruce Willis) is not all that happy with his surrogate life. He is upset that he lives under the same roof with his wife yet she never leaves her room and only her surrogate communicates with her husband. He longs for their human selves to spend time together and when his surrogate is suspended due to “its” violation of the “only humans” territory, he decides to go out into the world and investigate the crime.

The movie has been adapted from a graphic novel and of course there is the same old debate going on about how the movie hasn’t done the novel justice. On the other hand, people who have liked the movie are usually the people who haven’t read the novel. The movie is not without its faults. Some plot twists feel rushed and the dramatic elements seem to overshadow the action at times. But overall, it is a solid movie. You do not have to be a science fiction fan to enjoy it. The world created is not that big of a stretch of imagination. There are millions of people who stay in their homes and spend most of their days playing interactive computer games and prefer to live in a fantastic world with their desired personas. The difference in the movie is that the personas live in the real world. But the result is pretty much the same.Alienation, detachment and numbness. People no longer take care of themselves. Who needs to bother when your good-looking, fit and healthy image can roam the streets? The movie is efficient in making you feel that numbness.

Bruce Willis also delivers a great performance. As the tagline of the movie suggests he is the only real thing outside in the real world- he is out there in all his vulnerability and he is brilliant as the humane FBI agent/husband.

The movie may not be perfect, but it is certainly powerful, and a lot of fun! Recommended.

Recommended Reading feat. The Cast