A wife goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary. Anyone who has watched even just a few Law & Order SVU’s knows that the husband is suspect #1. That is the basic idea behind Gillian Flynn’s critically acclaimed book, Gone Girl, and the David Fincher film of the same name, which was released nationally last week.
Gone Girl chronicles the disturbing circumstances behind the disappearance of Amy Dunne, the wife of Nick Dunne. Amy, whose parents became wealthy by writing a children’s book series entitled Amazing Amy based on her life (basically whatever real life Amy did wrong Amazing Amy would do right— harsh, right?), is a beautiful wanna be writer from New York City. She meets Nick, a handsome writer from Missouri, at a party and the two make the most perfect (looking) couple ever.
The central question throughout both the book and the film is “Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?” A shaky alibi, a stressful marriage (which included two lay-offs), and an unexpected move to Missouri to care for Nick’s ill mom seem to point to a big fat duh, of course he killed her. But, that is not even close to the end of the story. The book and movie have more twists, turns, and bumps than a turbulent airplane ride and a roller coaster combined.
Fans of Gone Girl were terrified that the movie would not live up to the epicness of the book. Well, I am here to tell you that those fears (which I totally had too!) were just uncalled for. The movie, which stars Ben Affleck as Nick, Rosamund Pike as Amy, as well as Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry as supporting characters, takes all of the juicy and iconic moments from the book and translates it into something equally disturbing and amazing on screen. No spoilers here, but arguably the most memorable scene from the book (yes that scene), is even more striking and gruesome than one could have realistically pictured while reading it.
Many fans were also concerned that the movie would be drastically different from the book (this fear stemmed from rumors of a different ending that were circulating last year.) This, also, was an unneeded fear. The movie is nearly identical to the book, and the couple of changes only enhance Flynn’s masterpiece.
Fincher’s direction, Flynn’s adaption of her own book, the haunting music, the simply terrifying plot, and the fantastic actors all combine to form the best movie of the year so far. Affleck brings the perfect mix of handsomeness, selfishness, and jerk-like behavior to the role, while Pike, even with this being her first starring role, is the picture of complicated beauty. All of the supporting actors only enhance the film and make it, however unbelievably, funny. Harris, who originally seemed like a strange choice for Amy’s ex Desi, is perhaps the funniest character (in a totally disturbing and weird way) and, after seeing the film, is perfect casting. As far as I’m concerned, anything less than an Oscar nomination for Affleck, Pike, Harris, Fincher, and perhaps even Flynn would be a blatant snub.
Did he do it? If so, did she deserve it? Who is to blame for the disappearance of Amy Dunne? All I’ll say is this— don’t go see the movie alone (unless you are super brave and resistant to being scared!) and be prepared to have trouble sleeping for a few nights after seeing it. So go grab some fellow collegiettes and share in the awesome twisted fun that is Gone Girl.