Gone Girl (2014)
David Fincher’s highly anticipated
thriller, Gone Girl, based on Gillian
Fylnn’s novel of the same name, is certainly worth watching. Ben Affleck plays
protagonist Nick Dunne as he struggles to decipher the mystery surrounding his
missing wife, Amy Elliott Dunne, (Roasmund Pike) whilst unintentionally putting himself into
the spotlight as prime suspect for her murder.
We begin just before the end. A softly lit
shot of Amy Elliott-Dunne presumably lying in the lap of Nick as he plays with
her hair. The genteel nature of this shot contrasts with the opening narration,
voiced by Nick. The film opens with 3 questions. ‘What are you thinking? How
are you feeling? What have we done to each?’ This sets the tone for the 2 hours
29 minutes of screen time. What I haven’t yet worked out, is whether we
actually can conclude to answer these questions. And if we can’t? Well, is that
entirely the point?
The
narrative pessimistically questions the honesty of marriage and the honesty of ourselves
as individuals whilst unraveling the darkly cryptic plot
in a stylish, contemporary, neo-noir thriller. We are jumped backwards to the
day Amy Elliott-Dunne disappears and then back further to the moment the pair
met, it is from here that we begin to hear the story through the journal of
‘reliable’ narrator Amy whilst still following the investigation through Nick.
Fincher cleverly, intertwines these two versions of the same story with a
feeling of incomplete truth and deception on both parts. Perhaps the dishonesty of the characters mirrors the idea that as individuals we try to meet the expectations of society and therefore constantly portraying ourselves as something we are not.
Rosamund
Pike shines in her role as Amy Elliott-Dunne. Her characters develops at a near
perfect rate. Playing the romanced girlfriend through to wife, right through to
revenge driven sociopath, without ever giving away too much at once. We see Ben
Affleck in one of his stronger roles. He gives a good performance, presenting just
enough emotion, whilst subtly concealing a secret we eventually come to
discover.
There
are occasional moments in this film that seem like ‘fillers’. One such moment
is the appearance of Desi (Neil Patrick Harris - unusual casting choice?) at an event held for Amy’s
disappearance. We’ve already learnt that he allegedly stalked Amy after they
broke-up a few years before she met Nick. He appears in the room wearing a pair
of sunglasses, keeping his head down, obviously we are now suspicious. Nick
recognizes him from the photo shown earlier and follows him out of the
building, of course he doesn’t catch up with him and so we are left to ponder
when he may appear again. And that is sole reason for the addition of this
scene. In truth, its add nothing to the narrative, we can already assume he
will make a later appearance given the emphasis put upon us learning of his
existence in the first place. The sunglasses we’re just too clichéd. The
obvious attempts at pointing this out to the oblivious members of the audience seem to me, a
little unnecessary.
The
themes of the narrative generate genuine interest and thought. There has been a
lot of discussion surrounding this film regarding female representation. A high
percentage of the cast are occupied by woman, this in itself defies the norm (supposedly only 30% of speaking characters in film are woman). The film puts woman into a strong position. A female lead detective in the police
force, Amy is clearly a controlling character and is constantly framed in such
a way. Even down to Margo (Nick’s sister), someone Nick goes to for
advice. In the same instance however, the police offer doesn’t necessarily do a
great job in her investigation, a female tv presenter is presented as discernibly unlikeable character
and Amy developed into a deranged, deceitful character . Hardly any positivity there. The
men in the film may not be on quite the same scale but they aren’t necessarily
set in better light than the woman either. Nick, though he is not a ‘bad guy’, still
cheats on his wife and goes out of his way conceal his affair. Tanner Bolt,
Nick’s lawyer, is learned in the art deceit and knows exactly how to play the
public in order to change their view on him. So regardless of gender (or any other difference for that matter), are we not all flawed simply for being human?
While
this meticulous narrative is well played out in style and structure, I can’t
help but feel the flaws to finale let it down just slightly. It feels rushed in comparison
to the well thought out first 2 acts, the final part tries to answer too many
questions and round off too many plot points to really achieve either of these.
Don’t misunderstand me, I was in no way expectant of a happily ever after or
even a unhappily ever after but I did expect a little more than we got. After all, in
what world can a deceitful murderer go on in major public spotlight and not
have any kind of investigation against her? Perhaps I'm over-thinking it or just being plainly pedantic. Its interesting themes and social
comment make it a great point for thought and as always Fincher, accomplishes a
polished piece of work that keeps your attention, which in the end glosses over
it's minor faults. The film kept me thinking for
more than a few hours after I saw it and that for me, is what a film should do.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower, for example, is a book I've read upwards of five times and will continue to re-read whenever I want an easy book. The Harry Potter series also comes into this, as does a whole lot of children's stories. The Lemoney Snicket series, Alice in Wonderland, all of these, though they may not be the most challenging texts, or the most acclaimed, give me a break from thinking about a book too hard. If I only read difficult books all the time, I don't think I'd enjoy reading the same way I do now. There is absolutely nothing wrong with picking up an easy book and just enjoying it. Thats not to say we shouldn't challenge ourselves regularly, but there should be no pressure to read a book just because people think you should.
