Film Review: Gone Girl (SPOILERS)

This review contains SPOILERS. Proceed at your own risk.

courtesy of moviepilot.com

I went to see Gone Girl last night and just Wow. I have so many thoughts that I cannot fathom into constellations. See what I did there. A not so subtle John Green reference.

Gone Girl is directed by David Fincher and based off of the 2012 book written by Gillian Flynn. This film really reminded me of Fatal Attraction. Both women go crazy in such an unexpected and profound way. The first half of the film you are on Amy Dunne's (played by Rosamund Pike) side but as soon as you realize she planned this, your sympathies shift towards Nick (played by Ben Affleck).

Rosamund Pike
courtesy of insidemovies.ew.com

Like in all relationships, everything is subjective. The more we learn about Nick, the more unsure we are of his character. He cheats on his wife and has several moments where he abusively lashes out. But just because he lashes out doesn't mean he killed his wife. Or does it?

By the third act, neither of them are reliable narrators and it really messes with your head. When they are suddenly untrustworthy, who do you trust within the story. In this world, the answer is No One.

Fincher really plays with and subverts gender roles and expectations. When Amy suggests that her husband is abusive, the police in world and the audience automatically believe and sympathize with her, no questions asked. But if the roles were reversed and it was a man accusing his wife of abuse, I suspect there would be a lot of hesitation. I was really uncomfortable with the fake rape and abuse accusations. It served the story well to show how crazy and dangerous Amy is and it was an unexpected plot twist. But it also perpetuates the idea that most rape accusations are false, which is NOT true.

courtesy of blog.bennettandbennett.com

The media plays a huge role in how rape cases are viewed both in the film and in reality. As the more information comes to light, the media switches sides so fast I'm surprised they don't have whiplash. Just as scary it is to watch the media's portrayal in the film, it is just as scary to be the one in the center of the media storm. Nick lost privacy and his sense of safety, essentially becoming a prisoner in his own home. The news reported gossip because it was a more interesting story instead of reporting the facts. Whenever I see things like this, it really makes me reevaluate what I think I know about high media cases. There's no way to know all of the details, but the information presented is extremely biased and vicious in creating stock characters instead of viewing people complexly. The presence of the media turns an intimate story of a husband searching for his missing wife into a series of circus acts with each performance pushing the stakes higher and higher. "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare) and Amy and Nick give the performance of their lives.

Casting Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry was a brillant choice because it allowed Fincher to play against type. When Tyler Perry is in a film I automatically think comedy and NPH tends to be the good guy. When NPH is brutally murdered, I was even more shocked because as an actor, he is not the one who usually dies.

The soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross really helped set the mood. It felt eerie like rolling fog on a dark night. When NPH was killed the music was gongs. I've come to expect drums during a killing and the gongs mixed with the beautiful, almost balletic editing made that scene captivating. Even the opening sequence created a feeling of unease by cutting away from the establishing building shots just a half a second too soon.

courtesy of myfanatic.com

I left the cinema feeling icky, like a chill went up my spine. The performance for the camera is over, but the performance of their lives continues.