David Fincher is one paranoid filmmaker and Gone Girl is his most explicit show of that. It’s a film that moves at a lightening pace, about as fast as Gillian Flynn’s novel, and does not allow the audience one ounce of comfort. Gone Girl isn’t so much a look at how cynics view love and marriage, but really about how cynical we all should be when it comes to the media.
Considering Gone Girl was adapted by the novelist herself, that might cause readers to worry that the movie wouldn’t be able to live on its own. But Fincher is too good a filmmaker to let a movie turn into that. This isn’t Zack Snyder trying to bring every panel of Watchmen to life. No, this is a collaboration between writer and director, understanding how to use the tools of filmmaking that were not at hand when she wrote the book. And Fincher has adapted his techniques to make up for the tools only a novelist has.
In Gone Girl, we find Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) living in the run-of-the-mill Missouri town that Nick grew up in. Amy is a sophisticated New Yorker, who hasn’t really adapted to the environment. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing and it looks like a murder. Nick is then the prime suspect and he becomes public enemy number one.
For a guy whose films have centered on paranoia and media hounding, Gone Girl is the perfect material. Even if you don’t like Fincher’s overly dreary view of society, you have to admit - he knows how to pick his subjects. Fincher finds the best screenwriters to work with, but even he had to understand that Flynn was the best writer for the film. Her novel might not be Nobel Prize level work, but she had an incredible visual way of presenting her story. It’s almost like she wrote the novel to be turned into a movie at some point.
Yes, there are a lot of changes made, but the movie sticks to the general plotline, right down to the major twists and turns Flynn throws at the reader. They are presented just as well on film, as if daggers to the audience.
Gone Girl is really two stories. On one level, we see how the media takes a story and trivializes it. Suddenly, Nick goes from heartbroken husband to killer thanks to one bad picture. And when he plays their game and even beats them, it’s like they are oblivious to it. The media, epitomized by Missi Pyle’s deliciously hilarious performance as a Nancy Grace lookalike, does what it does. It’s all a game, even when people’s lives are in the balance. Amy easily manipulates the media, but never realizes that she controls the situation as much as Nick until it's too late.
The second is love and marriage. Like the thought monologue that opens the book and the movie, it is obvious from the beginning that Nick and Amy have a fractured relationship. (That’s like calling the sky blue... no duh.) Are they in each others lives because one thinks they can manipulate the other to be something they are not? Amy just takes it to extremes, but Nick is like that too. How is this really a marriage founded in love if neither ever pleases the other to the point that they toy with each other?
Fincher also has a knack for bringing great performances out from unexpected places. Sarah Coon is a revelation as Margo, spouting out one-liners left and right and really acting as the only voice of reason in the entire film. She seems to be the only one who’s not looking for something to get out of someone else.
The supporting cast is also filled with intriguing roles. Neil Patrick Harris is creepy as Amy’s ex-boyfriend, while Tyler Perry is shockingly good as power attorney Tanner Bolt. It almost makes you wish he would appear in more movies outside his own. Kim Dickens also deserves praise for her no-nonsense performance as the lead detective.
Rosamund Pike also gives a breathtaking performance. She is so good at playing all the parts Amy has herself playing. It’s a role within a role. There has to be a distance from Amy and the audience, as if we can’t even be let in on her secrets and she keeps that up until the very end.
Ben Affleck also proved that he can give good performances outside of his own films. He’s much more welcoming to the audience, never appearing to take the situations as seriously as they are. While it can often seem like he’s just acting out the words of the novel, Affleck is not giving a cardboard performance that can often let main characters get lost in their own films. It has happened before, but not here.
Gone Girl is, like all Fincher films, tightly controlled and incredibly stylized. He’s a director’s director, with flashy camera moves and even cuts from scene-to-scene that are impossible to miss. But you can’t let style get in the way of a good story, which is why Gone Girl is a success.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com