'Gone Girl' A Review

Gone Girl is a mystery/thriller adapted from the novel of the same name. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary in suburban Missouri Nick(Ben Affleck) returns home to find his wife Amy(Rosamund Pike) has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As a statewide manhunt gets underway Nick falls under suspicion, the movie intercuts with flashbacks depicting how Nick and Amy got together and how their relationship began to disintegrate.

The story itself is uninteresting. The two leads uncompelling. The twists and turns of the plot not only predictable but so contrived there is no doubt they manifest only as a function of the writers transparent intent. A narrative built upon cliches and stereotypes there is no originality to be found. The movie professes to comment on the media, dishonesty, and relationships but in the age where divorce is common and everyone has a smartphone these "comments" are tired and rote. The only possible freshness that can be found is in the narratives construction which the actors are unable to pass off as believable.

Pike and Affleck flounder and fail to give performances that resemble realistic. Affleck gives us a hulking idiot prone to infidelity, a cowardly man-child fratboy. When called on to play anything other than smug charm he falls into soap opera. Pike attempts depth but her character is a trope, a woman scorned, vengeful and insane. Both characters are not only unlikable they aren't actually real people. They garner no sympathy, their actions meaningless, at the heart of Gone Girl there is nothing but apathy. Kim Dickins, Carrie Coon, and Tyler Perry put forth heroic efforts to bring this sagging, inept, melodramatic, 50's horror show to life but can only do so much to combat the tone, script, and leads.

There is also an undercurrent of misogyny throughout. Other than Dickins(as the homicide detective) and Coon(as Nick's sister) the other women in the movie fall into three categories dumb, crazy, or bitchy. Others have alleged that the movie shows more subtlety and finesse, I simply didn't see it.

An implausible plot with little thought or time for character. Contrived action. Melodramatic score and performances. Unclear message. Dull narrative.

Worst movie of the year.

Don't See It.