A psychological thriller directed by David Fincher plants an intriguing movie premise. Add that Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay for Gone Girl (2014) based on her own 2012 novel named Gone Girl adds another level of interest that brings us to this movie today. Add the really dark place this movie takes a marriage for the characters central to the story offers something dynamic.
The movie opens on the fifth anniversary of the marriage of Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott Dunne, portrayed respectively by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Amy has disappeared. A series of children’s books by Mary Elizabeth and Randall Elliott, as portrayed by Lisa Banes and David Clennon, had been wildly popular, placing an immediate spotlight on what is quickly identified as a disappearance with significant media attention.
Detective Rhonda Boney and her team, including officer James Gilpin are called in to investigate the Dunne’s Kansas City, Missouri residence in furtherance Amy’s disappearance. A string of incriminating evidence implicates Nick Dunne in the disappearance, with the suspicion that Amy’s disappearance may have escalated to death in a case of domestic violence. Besides the evidence at the family household, factors back to the family’s previous home in New York City, New York are revealed through flashbacks. Boney and Gilpin were portrayed by Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit.
With the slow play of revelations against Nick Dunne, Amy’s husband turns to Tanner Bolt, his attorney, and Margo Dunn, his twin sister, for support. The continuing revelations of evidence that make Nick look guilty includes, for example, that Nick had an affair with a former student of his named Andie Fitzgerald. Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon and Emily Ratajkowski portrayed Tanner, Margo and Andie, respectively.
The mounting pressure of the evidence feeds into the pressure applied in the media, including that of legal opinion host Ellen Abbott, to have Nick Dunne arrested and evidence of Amy Elliott Dunne’s death confirmed. The psychological component of that offers compelling sympathy for the viewpoint, while circumstances brought about in response to some of that media attention brings Desi Collings, a wealthy ex-boyfriend of Amy’s, into the picture. The beauty of this tension, with the dark statements about the Dunne marriage in particular, connected with me in ways that I mean not to undersell. Neil Patrick Harris and Missi Pyle portrayed Collings and Abbott, respectively.
The achievement that Gillian Flynn as writer and David Fincher as director brought to this movie makes this something that I recommend. The film holds up to additional viewings and reflections after the fact, including with the deliberate discomfort that the film both raises and delivers upon. I give Gone Girl as directed by David Fincher 4.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars.
Matt – Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Matt Lynn Digital 