Gone Girl
Director David Fincher (The Social Network) adapts Gillian Flynn's bestselling mystery about the disappearance of Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) on her wedding anniversary, and the whodunnit investigation - centering on the woman's evasive husband Nick (Ben Affleck).
The Dunne's wedding anniversary seems like any other, with Nick popping into The Bar, a bar he owns with his sister, and then heading home to meet Amy - the only trace of whom is the aftermath of a struggle. While initially treated with sympathy, Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect in the minds of both the police and the public, and he's forced to keep up appearances while hiding sleazy secrets and trying to work out what has happened. Meanwhile, Amy's diary entries paint a picture of true love turned sour...
Gillian, who adapted her own novel, told Entertainment Weekly that the film deviates from the source material, adding: "There was something thrilling about taking this piece of work that I’d spent about two years painstakingly putting together with all its eight million LEGO pieces and take a hammer to it and bash it apart and reassemble it into a movie."
- Director:
- David Fincher ('Fight Club', 'The Social Network')
- Writer:
- Gillian Flynn
- Cast:
- Ben AffleckRosamund PikeMissi PyleNeil Patrick HarrisTyler PerryKim DickensCasey WilsonPatrick Fugit
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Steve Newall
flicksAs a fan of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, the notion of David Fincher bringing her twist-laden, guilt-infused novel to the big screen was a perfect fit. Ditto for Ben Affleck’s casting as the often slimy, only semi-sympathetic and sometimes ill-advisedly smirking Nick Dunne, and Rosamund Pike his missing, put-upon wife Amy. With former Entertainment Weekly TV writer Flynn herself penning the screenplay and the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Tyler Perry and Scoot McNairy popping up amongst the supporting cast, all signs pointed to a quality adaptation and Gone Girl does not disappoint.
... and stay gone!
An eminently frustrating film. Ben Affleck is a smug lump of clay I just cannot empathize with - granted, his character is meant to be less-than-lovable, but a better actor could have embodied both the charm and coldness this role needed. This is especially grating because the rest of the cast is rather good: Rosamund Pike really sinks her teeth into the...
It really is some film...
I was deeply moved by this film. The 'not necessarily happy' ending was harsh at first, but it didn't take long for me to realize that it was necessary to put the message across. A stunning drama, every aspect of this film was pristine. Never have I fully commended a film with a 'what if' ending. I found this film gripping until the end - gripping beyond...
Wow I was scared
This is a film I took my Grandma to see because I was thinking it would be ok to see a Ben Affleck film and Grandma likes to watch him in some of the nice films he has done such as the one he made with his wife (I can't remember). wow I was wrong to take Grandma. It was so scary and I couldn't see how the jokes were funny I just felt scared an awful for...
Unsettling
This film reminded me of 'To Die For' in the way it strives to blend dark comedy and thrills. However where it succeeds with being a thriller it mostly fails in the comedy department, the editing cuts off punchlines and falls flat. Rosamund Pike is great and Ben Affleck is - as always - easy to watch. I found the ending unrealistic but it was fun to watch...
NOT a movie for a first date
Nick Dunne gets a call at work from a neighbour to say that his front door is open. Going home he finds his cat and some smashed furniture in the lounge and can't find his wife. First the police and then the media take unusual interest in the case and in Nick. What is ostensibly a murder mystery story turns out to also be a dissection of a marriage and of...
Who is your partner? Really?
Is your partner a nutbar? How far will they go to get what they want? A psychological thriller about a relationship with its various twists and turns means I will not be taking a boxcutter lightly the next time I see one. Quite a long movie though it picked up a gear when we got to the female perspective. There are no saints here, all sinners; so it depends...
Variety
pressSurgically precise, grimly funny and entirely mesmerizing over the course of its swift 149-minute running time, this taut yet expansive psychological thriller represents an exceptional pairing of filmmaker and material.
Total Film
pressDoesn’t have the heft of Zodiac or the verve of Se7en but Gone Girl is a masterful adaptation and a superior crime-thriller. As for Fincher changing the ending… See for yourself.
Time Out
pressIt's a hypnotically perverse film, one that redeems your faith in studio smarts (but not, alas, in local law enforcement, tabloid crime reporting or, indeed, marriage).
The New York Times
pressDread descends like winter shadows, darkening the movie's tone and visuals until it's snuffed out all the light, air and nuance.
The Guardian
pressGone Girl, finally, may be no more than a storm in a teacup. But what an elegant, bone-china teacup this is. And what a fearsome force-10 gale we have brewing inside.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressFloating through the narrative like a ghost, [Pike] embodies the aloofness that is both the film's strength and its weakness.
Hollywood Reporter
pressA sharply made, perfectly cast and unfailingly absorbing melodrama. But, like the director's adaptation of another publishing phenomenon, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, three years ago, it leaves you with a quietly lingering feeling of: “Is that all there is?”
Empire Magazine
pressStylish, twisted and daring, Gone Girl is a David Fincher date movie: dark, smart and dangerous. If it doesn’t deliver in its finale, its twist, turns and commitment to moral repugnance will leave you reeling.
Flicks, Steve Newall
flicksAs a fan of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, the notion of David Fincher bringing her twist-laden, guilt-infused novel to the big screen was a perfect fit. Ditto for Ben Affleck’s casting as the often slimy, only semi-sympathetic and sometimes ill-advisedly smirking Nick Dunne, and Rosamund Pike his missing, put-upon wife Amy. With former Entertainment Weekly TV writer Flynn herself penning the screenplay and the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Tyler Perry and Scoot McNairy popping up amongst the supporting cast, all signs pointed to a quality adaptation and Gone Girl does not disappoint.
Variety
pressSurgically precise, grimly funny and entirely mesmerizing over the course of its swift 149-minute running time, this taut yet expansive psychological thriller represents an exceptional pairing of filmmaker and material.
Total Film
pressDoesn’t have the heft of Zodiac or the verve of Se7en but Gone Girl is a masterful adaptation and a superior crime-thriller. As for Fincher changing the ending… See for yourself.
Time Out
pressIt's a hypnotically perverse film, one that redeems your faith in studio smarts (but not, alas, in local law enforcement, tabloid crime reporting or, indeed, marriage).
The New York Times
pressDread descends like winter shadows, darkening the movie's tone and visuals until it's snuffed out all the light, air and nuance.
The Guardian
pressGone Girl, finally, may be no more than a storm in a teacup. But what an elegant, bone-china teacup this is. And what a fearsome force-10 gale we have brewing inside.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressFloating through the narrative like a ghost, [Pike] embodies the aloofness that is both the film's strength and its weakness.
Hollywood Reporter
pressA sharply made, perfectly cast and unfailingly absorbing melodrama. But, like the director's adaptation of another publishing phenomenon, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, three years ago, it leaves you with a quietly lingering feeling of: “Is that all there is?”
Empire Magazine
pressStylish, twisted and daring, Gone Girl is a David Fincher date movie: dark, smart and dangerous. If it doesn’t deliver in its finale, its twist, turns and commitment to moral repugnance will leave you reeling.
... and stay gone!
An eminently frustrating film. Ben Affleck is a smug lump of clay I just cannot empathize with - granted, his character is meant to be less-than-lovable, but a better actor could have embodied both the charm and coldness this role needed. This is especially grating because the rest of the cast is rather good: Rosamund Pike really sinks her teeth into the...
It really is some film...
I was deeply moved by this film. The 'not necessarily happy' ending was harsh at first, but it didn't take long for me to realize that it was necessary to put the message across. A stunning drama, every aspect of this film was pristine. Never have I fully commended a film with a 'what if' ending. I found this film gripping until the end - gripping beyond...
Wow I was scared
This is a film I took my Grandma to see because I was thinking it would be ok to see a Ben Affleck film and Grandma likes to watch him in some of the nice films he has done such as the one he made with his wife (I can't remember). wow I was wrong to take Grandma. It was so scary and I couldn't see how the jokes were funny I just felt scared an awful for...
Unsettling
This film reminded me of 'To Die For' in the way it strives to blend dark comedy and thrills. However where it succeeds with being a thriller it mostly fails in the comedy department, the editing cuts off punchlines and falls flat. Rosamund Pike is great and Ben Affleck is - as always - easy to watch. I found the ending unrealistic but it was fun to watch...
NOT a movie for a first date
Nick Dunne gets a call at work from a neighbour to say that his front door is open. Going home he finds his cat and some smashed furniture in the lounge and can't find his wife. First the police and then the media take unusual interest in the case and in Nick. What is ostensibly a murder mystery story turns out to also be a dissection of a marriage and...
Who is your partner? Really?
Is your partner a nutbar? How far will they go to get what they want? A psychological thriller about a relationship with its various twists and turns means I will not be taking a boxcutter lightly the next time I see one. Quite a long movie though it picked up a gear when we got to the female perspective. There are no saints here, all sinners; so it...
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