Gone Girl (2014) * * *

Directed by:  David Fincher

Starring:  Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Casey Wilson


Gone Girl has its secrets and twists, but doesn't necessarily depend on them to create a moody, chilling tale.    Director David Fincher manipulates us and sends us off in directions we didn't quite anticipate; mostly because he can and does so with glee.    Fincher is at home making films about characters who aren't nice; who are selfish, mean, and standoffish.    The Social Network (2010) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) are two such examples, and then we have Seven (1995) and Zodiac (2007) which involve the chasing of serial killers amidst unrelenting gloom.    The protagonists in those films are flawed and troubled, and inherently watchable.   

Without giving away too much of the plot, writing teacher/bar owner Nick Dunne (Affleck) comes home on the day of his fifth anniversary to find his wife Amy (Pike) missing.    Evidence points to a violent struggle, and possible murder.    Nick is the prime suspect, and sensationalized, round-the-clock media coverage paints him as someone who could've very easily murdered his wife.    The fact that Nick is having an affair with one of his students doesn't help, but with help of high-powered attorney Tanner Bolt (Perry), Nick finds a way to navigate through the legal maze while swimming with the sharks.

We learn in flashbacks that, despite no outwardly noticeable marital problems, Nick and Amy have had their share of issues bubbling below the surface.    Nick had grown callous and cold towards Amy as his writing career went nowhere, and even forcing her to move from New York to Nick's hometown in Missouri.    Amy herself grows into a walking, talking pile of resentments and frustrations.     This was a powder keg ready to explode, and in fact it already had in many ways.

For those who haven't seen the film, I won't reveal the surprises, of which there are many.    We learn more about the natures of Nick and Amy than we initially assumed about them, and the truth isn't pleasant.     Does the resolution necessarily hold up under scrutiny?    Some pieces of it does, while others frustrate you and leave you scratching your head, but Fincher isn't as much interested in the payoffs as he is the journey.    He loves exploring characters who hide betrayals from others and themselves.    Nick and Amy see themselves one way, but behave in quite another.    Fincher isn't afraid to give us people who aren't likable.

The actors portray tricky people and it is a tribute to Affleck and Pike how fearlessly they approach their roles.     They aren't afraid to be disliked by the audience.   We have as much trouble figuring Amy and Nick out as they do figuring themselves out.     Fincher combines slick filmmaking with tortured characters who exist in a cold world.     He dares us to turn away, and we find that we can't.