Written by Gillian Flynn; Directed by David Fincher
Characters:
Lance Nicholas Dunne (Ben Affleck)
Amy Elliot Dunne (Rosamond Pike)
Margot Dunne (Carrie Coon)
Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens)
Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris)
Andie Hardy (Emily Ratajkowski)
Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry)
I've never done a review like this before. Let's start with the book.
Gone Girl starts off pretty bland, and really took a few chapters to have me really hooked on, but when I did get hooked on, it was some of the most gripping literature I've ever read.
The story follows Nick Dunne and the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Amy. I won't really say anything else because it'll go into spoilers.
So about a third of the way in, I had reached the point where I couldn't put the book down, and then from the halfway point, something happens that turns it on its head, and that sold the story for me. It was something I hadn't expected at all, and I'm glad of that. From there to the end was just brilliant. But, then came the end...
I don't usually critique an ending in a negative way, but this time I have to make an exception. I understand that I don't get to choose an ending to everything, but the ending to this story seemed really strange. After everything the book did, it didn't make sense to have it end like it did. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it seemed a bit lazy to not be able to think of a better ending than the one there was, and it was actually unsatisfactory. I wanted something better. And that's probably one of the worst things to say about a story - That it ended poorly.
So, I'll ignore the boring first few chapters, and consider only the rest, which were enthralling and immensely gripping, but had an ending that made me wonder how Flynn couldn't have thought of a better one.
On a scale where M is the lowest, and R is the highest possible rating, with the highlighted letter being the rating:
Gone Girl (book) : MIHIR
Now, there's so much more to talk about with a movie. Firstly, it's a good looking movie. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it looks good. The screenplay was written by Gillian Flynn herself, which makes it really accurate, and so the story itself is no issue at all.
Ben Affleck plays a decent Nick Dunne. I say that because I don't think it would be that difficult to play him, so it's nothing against Affleck. He was basically perfect. Rosamund Pike had a tougher job, and even though she seemed a bit off at times, she was mostly great with her role.
The way the book is written made me wonder how it was adapted into a movie, because it has a strange pattern, but I was pleasantly surprised. One thing that put me off, though, was that there was too much narration. A little is okay, but it was just overdone for me.
The movie is 2 and a half hours long, but it most certainly doesn't feel long. It's actually fast paced, and while that's a good thing, some things feel sudden and really just spring up, unlike in the book where things build up. It was much easier for me to understand everything considering I finished the book mere minutes before watching the movie, but for someone who hadn't read it, some things may have needed some thought.
But as an adaptation, I don't think I've ever watched one that's as close to the source material as this, and really, it's a great film. The critical acclaim it received is the reason I read the book in the first place! But yes, it's a little bit rushed, and once again, the ending. I can't wrap my head around it.
Gone Girl (movie): MIHIR
Strange how I gave them both the same rating.
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