Gone Girl Movie Review

Movie: Gone Girl

Release Date: October 2014

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris

I think we've found the movie of the year. I saw what the producers did, premiered the movie just in time to be nominated for The Academy Awards: Best Picture of the Year. The story wraps us into somewhat of a mysterious maze, causing us to want so much more than what we expected.

The “girl” in Gone Girl is Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), East Coast socialite and daughter to two successful authors, who falls head-over-heels in love with journalist Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck). The movie tells a story of the married couple and their fairy-tale life, but five years later it turns out that they’re involved in a loveless, hopeless marriage.

Amy goes missing… and Nick gradually goes from sympathetic husband to suspected killer in the eyes of his family, their nosy Missouri neighbors, and the hovering, headline-starved media –SO. Gone Girl never crosses the line and becomes too much a deconstruction. It's a plot-obsessed picture that's determined to stay one step ahead of the audience at all times, and cheats when it feels it has to.

At times I felt ‘up in the air’ and didn’t know what to expect. You know, there were a few silly turn of events. Let’s say it is a film that shifts emphasis and perspective so many times that you may feel as though you're watching five short movies strung together, each morphing into the next -MS

Every character was brilliantly placed. I especially enjoyed the performances of Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit, both played homicide detectives. Neil Patrick Harris was a bit *draws back mouth corners* but nonetheless he delivered. Even though I’ve never been a fan of Ben Affleck (or his work), he’s exceptional as a blocked writer, estranged husband, and a maybe murderer. He effortlessly compiled all three complicated flaws into one big KAZAM! A wonderful kazam. By the way I first came across Rosamund Pike in the beautifully written “An Education” a film which I recommend to all females. (I should write a review on “An Education”)

It’s complicated singing the praises of Gone Girl without spoiling the whole thing for the moviegoer. This is undoubtedly the best movie I seen all year and is deserving of a 9/10

See my review of A Madea Christmas