GONE GIRL (2014 - DOMESTIC HORROR FLICK) ****1/2 out of ***** OR 9 out of 10
(Wow. Now that's fucked-up...)
CAST: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris, Kim Dickens, David Clennon, Lisa Banes, Emily Ratajkowksi, Patrick Fugit, Scoot McNairy, Casey Wilson.
DIRECTOR: David Fincher
IT'S LIKE THIS: Okay, folks. We're slipping in an extra review for our "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN" line-up. Yes, I know GONE GIRL is technically not a horror flick, but I dare anyone who has seen this film to tell me it's not scarier than most of the fright films we've reviewed so far - or will review. Just because there are no rampaging zombies, vampires, werewolves, or aliens in it doesn't mean it's not a horror film. GONE GIRL does, however, contain one exceptionally clever slasher villain. Call it just a "thriller" all you want, but GONE GIRL has a "killer" who puts Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, The Mad Miner, Ghostface and all other Horror Movie slashers to shame - and could easily run circles around them.
We open up with sad sack Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) on the morning of his 5th wedding anniversary, which apparently is "Wood." Which is appropriate, because Nick needs all the wood he can knock on to avoid any more bad luck. He and his elegantly gorgeous wife, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), have had a rough last few years. Both lost their plum writing jobs in New York City during the Great Recession, and have had to use what's left of Amy's trust fund to relocate to the not-so-cozy-sounding North Carthage, Missouri, where Nick grew up. There, Nick used the last hundred thousand or so of Amy's trust to set up a bar called, um, The Bar. Not sure if this name choice shows that Nick is particularly clever or just particularly stupid, but we will soon find out.
You see, after hanging out for a few hours with close twin sister, Margo (Carrie Coon), on that fateful morn of his Wooden Anniversary, Nick returns home to find that Amy has disappeared from their mansion. And let's just say that some signs point to this disappearance not being a benign one. He reports this incident to the cops - and soon Detectives Boney and Gilpin (Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit) are probing into the Dunnes' life to see if there was any marital discord.
Nick tells them that he and Amy were reasonably happy and were just like any other couple who have their ups and downs. Soon, however, word starts to spread that Amy was afraid for her life and confided all of this in best pal Noelle Hawthorn (Casey Wilson). Soon, it comes out that Nick upped Amy's life insurance policy to well over a million bucks, with him as the sole beneficiary. Soon, it becomes clear that Nick has been having an affair with a local slut named Andy (Emily Ratajkowski). Soon, it's looking like Nick had a million reasons to want Amy dead.
Is Nick responsible for Amy's disappearance? Or is he truly innocent and guilty only of being an adulterer? If so, what happened to Amy? Who took her? Could it be creepazoid Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris), who used to be so obsessed with Amy back in high school? Or is it David O'Hara (Scoot McNairy), an ex-boyfriend of Amy who reportedly assaulted her? Could either of Amy's exes be setting Nick up? Could it be Margo herself, who hated Amy? Or is it really Nick, after all? Could he be such a devious, diabolically-manipulative sociopath who really did kill his wife and is now making it look like he's the victim? What really happened to Amy Dunne?
Guess again. You ain't even close, folks...
BUT SERIOUSLY: This is going to be another review where I'm going to have to be as tight-lipped as possible. All I will say is GONE GIRL is a perfect adaptation of the bestselling Gillian Flynn novel of the same name. David Fincher, the auteur behind such similarly chilly and effective thrillers as SEVEN and THE GAME, once again masterfully orchestrates an atmosphere of slow-burning dread and murky motives. GONE GIRL has a subdued intensity to it that is hypnotic, drawing you in with delicious, icy precision. Very much like its central villain, whom I will not name.
The cast is pitch-perfect, with every role filled with just the right performer. Ben Affleck is good at playing ordinary, flawed guys who get in over their heads (witness his strong lead work in THE TOWN and ARGO), and his Nick Dunne is another such great example. Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris, Scoot McNairy, David Clennon, Lisa Banes, and Kim Dickens all kick their roles into the net and score major goals. Coon and Dickens are particularly effective as Nick's sister and the conflicted cop who can't decide whether Nick is an innocent patsy - or a cold-blooded killer. Harris is also great as a past love of Amy's. Nice to see him getting cast in roles like this that don't depend on his sexuality.
GONE GIRL belongs, however, to its lead girl: the lovely and graceful Rosamund Pike. First debuting auspiciously as "ice princess" Bond Girl Miranda Frost in 2002's DIE ANOTHER DAY, Pike eschewed lead roles in her subsequent film choices, choosing instead to do strong supporting work in such films as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, FRACTURE, AN EDUCATION, and BARNEY'S VERSION (as well as many others). This is her first real lead role, and she runs with it. Without giving anything away, let me just say that Pike brings the same mysterious, complex quality to GONE GIRL that the similarly-talented Deborah Kara Unger did in Fincher's THE GAME from 1997 - and GONE GIRL benefits the way THE GAME did. Clearly, Fincher knows how to choose his leading ladies. I should also add that Pike and Unger could be twin sisters, which adds to the intrigue.
And that's all I'm going to say. GONE GIRL may be a thriller and not a horror film, but it may very likely be the most frightening movie of the 32 movies we will review for our "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN" marathon.
And to Rosamund Pike who makes GONE GIRL her own, I say: GO, GIRL...
