Gone Girl

Fincher's Latest Mindf*ck Is Under Way

Director: David Fincher
Release Date: 2014
Rating: 18
Running Time: 140 mins
Genre: Mystery/Drama
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris

"Nick Dunne, you're probably the most hated man in America right now. Did you kill your wife Nick?"

If you could name one director that loves to see how much can he get away with on screen through misdirection, deciet and shocking twists and turns, then David Fincher is most likely your man. He's a man best know for toying with the audience and infamously causing them such sock surprises that it will be hard for them to have anything else stuck on their mind for the rest of the day. If there was a list of contemporary Hitchcockian directors that have taken the reigns from the late great director, Finchers name would comfortably be sitting pretty high up. I doubt there's anyone who could really spot the details that the director left nestled into Fight Club, Se7en or The Game, (three very highly regarded films that will probably mess your head up worse than a bottle of whisky) but I doubt anyone would be able to anticipate their endings, and if anyone did they would be just be lying.

So what was it about Gone Girl that lured Fincher in? After the huge success of the 2012 novel, it was not going to be long before a director would snatch up the opportunity to capture the incredible story on screen, and lets face it, who could've possibly done a better job (except maybe Nolan). This incredible battle of the sexes should read, packaged for boys and girls, (although maybe not one boys and girls should watch together). It has something for everyone, and so many alternating readings can be taken from it. It's one of those illusive (if not sometimes annoying) films where there's no truly right or wrong answer, but it just is what it is, and what it is is pretty incredible.

There are two main protagonists in this film, Nick (Affleck) and Amy (Pike) Dunne, a married couple of five years who are just about to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Only trouble is, when Nick returns home after a morning of drifting around, his wife is no where to be seen, and it's not long before Nick is wound up in a web of conspiracies about the disappearance of his wife. With only his sister (Carrie Coon) and wonder lawyer (Tyler Perry) by his side, Nick has to really go all out in the hope his wife will return home and his name will be cleared. Set with flashback versus read by Amy from her diary, she establishes the couple's relationship and the lead up to her disappearance, just enough so that we are on the edge of our seats but without a clue of where she ended up. It's a film that constantly manipulates and changes our opinions of all the characters, so much so we really don't know who to suspect, believe or support. 'First they hate me, now they love me...' is a particularly strong line said by Nick as he manages to win over the people that were immediately accusing him, but should we love him? It's an answer we'll never really know at this point, and we the audience are placed in the exact same mind frame as the thousands of suspecting bystanders throughout the film.

So it's fair to say that with Gone Girl Fincher hasn't changed his style massively with well and truly screwing with his audiences minds, but I'm certainly glad he did because it made for such an incredible film. It's not one of those easy watching films, it does take some concentrating, but we are not lead through the film with a clear view of what may happen, you'll really have no idea. The way that we are manipulated and played with throughout leads for a fascinating two and a half hours that the film takes place in.

However, the credit cannot all go to Fincher, Gillian Flynn deserves to be mentioned as the author of this awesome story that's now flying off the shelves. And of course the acting in this is terrific, Rosamund Pike has established herself now as a highly talented actor pulling off such a complex character, and Ben Affleck has most likely now had hundreds forgive him for Daredevil (although personally I never really had a problem with that film), and maybe now people will look forward to seeing him squeeze into the bat-suit (after loosing a few pounds perhaps). Although for the assisting roles such as Carrie Coon, she too was able to carry the role of a complex character, and as for Tyler Perry, in a way for me, he stole the second half of the film. Everyone was good in this film, although I may never see Barney in How I Met Your Mother the same now due to Neil Patrick Harris' dark sinister ex-boyfriend character: Desi Collings, another character we don't know whether to like or dislike.

I hope that we're going to see more from Fincher, I don't think it's unfair to say he dropped a bit in the 00's after an incredible run in the 90's, but lets hope he's back with plenty more up his sleeve. A truly fascinating film.

9/10