Gone Girl (2014) Movie Review

Review by Brandon Fu
Directed by: David Fincher
Rated: R (for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity, and language)

Gone Girl(2014) is directed by David Fincher and is based off of the book of the same name, and tells the story of Nick Dunne(Ben Affleck), a bar owner and loving husband who reports his wife,  Amy (Rosamund Pike), missing. The media goes crazy, and as the police investigation goes on, it becomes more and more clear that Nick might be the killer. His life plunges into a game of catchup and who-did-it, and everybody begins to ask the question of if Nick killed his wife.

Let's get this out of the way. This movie is dark. Really dark. Don't see it on the first or rather a lot of dates. It will scare you/scar you and your partner.

After seeing this movie, it became clear to me that David Fincher still has an impenetrable line-up of movies. From Se7en to Fight Club and Social Network, it is abundantly clear that Fincher is among the elite in Hollywood directors. Along with his take on extreme violence and gore, he brings with it a dark undertone and a color palate of mostly blues and grays that seems as though he has sucked the life out of the movie.

Apart from Fincher, the rest of the movie is great. Ben Affleck turns in a great performance as a shocked husband who wants his wife back, and this role better assures that he will play Batman well. But the best acting performance by far in this movie is: Rosamund Pike. She is AMAZING. The only thing I knew about Rosamund Pike before this movie was that she was a Bond Girl, from twenty years ago nevertheless. Out of all the acting roles of this year, for an actress, she is by far THE BEST OF THE YEAR. She is methodical, cynical, calculating, and scary. Another surprising turn in this movie was Tyler Perry, who plays Nick Dunne's lawyer. Never in a thousand years would you hear me say "Man, I wish there was more Tyler Perry." He was one of the best parts of the movie, and he gave the movie an uptick in attitude whenever he came on screen. But with all these amazing performances, there was one performance that was severely miscast: Neil Patrick Harris. NPH plays Amy Dunne's former lover and now creeper, and detracts from the movie heavily. Throughout the movie, he never striked me as a creeper or rapist, and it is very sad to see this in a movie with such great acting performances.

Another problem with the movie is the length. It is SO long. Almost three hours. I had to pee at one point but I didn't because of the intensity of the situation. But at the height of all the excitement, it just ends. Very abruptly. The movie is so long and so methodical that when it ends, it leaves you with this weird feeling of disappointment.

Gone Girl (2014) is an amazing long film with many great acting performances, but one bad one, and will live as a movie to never take your wife to. Definitely one of the best movies of the year.

4.3/5