Gone Girl
2014
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Missi Pyle, Casey Wilson, Emily Ratajkowski, Lola Kirke
Rated: R
You two are the most fucked up people I've ever met, and I deal with fucked up people for a living.
~Tanner Bolt
I saw Gone Girl this past Saturday, but was a bit busy and busy some more working on some other to stuff have time to write about it right then and there. But, I will provide some of my thoughts on the film to cap off the retrospective proper.
- Rosamund Pike is dynamite in this film. I've long been a fan of hers since Die Another Day (where she's about the only thing good in that film), but she's never really taken off. It feels like its every couple years that her and I catch up where she's in a movie I'm seeking out. She gives one of the best performances of the year and one that's absolutely for the ages as well.
-David Fincher seemed interested again, as I felt Dragon Tattoo felt like him sleepwalking through a movie. This is sort of a slow burn Fincher film as many of his trademark stuff will come later on in the film. And he's also got a few moments to hang up on his all time best scenes list here as well. And to his detriment he directed the hell out the performers as every person down to the random one-line characters were top notch.
-Hello Carrie Coon, I'm not sure we've met. But, I'd really like to see you in more movies. She was a new face to me, and I thought she was incredibly grounded, developed and expertly performed. I hope this is sort of a taking off point for her (I guess I'll have to check out The Leftovers now since she's a regular) and we get to see more of her.
-I really enjoyed the hell out of riding this rollercoaster of twist and turns and changing allegiances and perceptions of people as the movie kept going. You're not so much as trying to solve this mystery as you are trying to discover who these people are and were before this. The movie goes through 3 separate acts or phases with each one having a pretty major turn into the other.
-I'm sure people were hesitant on Tyler Perry's inclusion in the film. As someone who's indifferent on the man, I gotta say I hope he turns some heads here as he was quite fun and engaging every time he walked onto frame. Good or bad, the man has presence and David Fincher seems to know that and gets the very best out of him.
- Trent Reznor makes a Social Network-level score with the film here. Like that film, this score is just fresh and like nothing you're seeing other people doing. While I couldn't hum a bar of it, its the soundscape of the whole thing that sort of sticks with you and rests in your head after the credits have all rolled up. He's back on track after Dragon Tattoo which wasn't a bad score, it was just more or less what you'd kind of expect.
-Go have fun with this movie. I'm sure there's holes and whatnot, but the movie clearly makes its own rules and plays by them. This is the kind of movie adults have been pining for and we really need to see studios make more of. And when you have a master director at the helm, you get something more than just adult popcorn R-rated drama entertainment.
Score: 4.5/5
PS: Where would I rank it among Fincher's films? Off hand I'd say probably taking the 5 spot and bumping The Game down 1. Benjamin Button, don't worry, you're holding firm down at the bottom.
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