Film: Gone Girl (2014)

'he's hot' 'no, he's creepy'

You know what I love? The adrenaline rush of watching something you know feels almost post-coital. Like you wanna light a cigarette and look up into the night sky. Smog and fading stars above you. The feeling of blood rushing through your veins as you take that first gulp of cold air, your cheeks turning hot and the adrenaline kicking within you. What could be terrible about that? Well of course if you were like me, say alone, then there's that problem of not having anyone to talk to. And then I remembered the internet, like a little blessing and curse.

David Fincher is famed for Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac and The Social Network - his work is recognizable for its smart quick spoken dialogue that's often social commentaries and sleek filming/editing. You know a Fincher film when you see one. His most famous are often based on real people or books, and Gone Girl written by Gillian Flynn is a marvel to behold (the author wrote the screenplay as well), probably one of his best. There will certainly be a divided party on the story about Nick (Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), but I know which side I'm on.

Nick returns home one day to find his wife gone, though his suspicion are increased by the table being shattered in the living room. Something's obviously happened in his absence. He gets hold of the police and detectives show up at his door, before he knows it, his home is a crime scene. A simple missing person case becomes a possible abduction and soon enough Nick's being judged for the tiniest of things. He has support from his sister (Carrie Coon), and Amy's parents come to help as well, rallying the town and other friends to help them find Amy.

perf hair is perf

But things are not what they seem and Nick's ignorance about his wife's life starts to make it obvious that their marriage is not flawless. And the plot itself seems recognizable, like a lot of tv-movies from the nineties, or at least as I remembered them. Unlike most of those 'based on a true story' you'll find yourself surprised, amazed and downright disgusted. This is so very much a discussion about marriage, of its complexities and relationships itself.

It helps that we get Amy's perspective, an inside to how their relationship worked when they'd met the first time and how it evolved. I get why someone wrote 'Bring someone you hate' about this film. Nothing about this casts a happy light on getting ones nuptials, but it is so very true in a way, despite the occasional overindulgent lines that make you go 'do people talk like that?' It's an amazing ride, more or less, tense and true. Affleck is spot on (yup I know, he got past Gigli) and Pike is just hands-down brilliant, as well.

The book is now on my to-read-list and I wish that I could speak properly about how awestruck I am about this, but I fear I will say too much. Let me just leave it with this. 

10/10