Gone Girl

4 out of 4 Stars

One of the most talked about and unhinged date films of the year, Gone Girl is David Fincher's gripping adaptation of Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel about the disappearance and suspected murder of a writer's wife in small town Missouri. On the morning of his five year wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home from the local watering hole, which he owns, and finds that his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Amy's disappearance leads to an investigation led by local law enforcement and fueled by media speculation over whether or not Nick kidnapped or murdered his wife. Standing by Nick's side over the televised grilling from cable news pundits is his twin sister, Margo (Carrie Coon) as she houses Nick during the investigation. Revealing anything else would spoil this white-knuckled thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat and rethinking of whether or not to clutch your significant others' hand.

David Fincher, one of the masters of neo-noir, delivers a stunning film that ranks up to his previous thrillers like Se7en, The Game, and Zodiac. Fincher manages to find the delicate balance of directing a thriller with the suspense of Hitchcock's North By Northwest and Reed's The Third Man with a style that is vivid and chilling thanks his collaboration with long-time cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth and accompanied with an industrialist score by alternative virtuosos Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor. Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay to her own novel making the visual experience as memorable and suspenseful as reading the book by focusing on the mass media-obsession and insanity over American crime without resorting to the same soapbox messages preached in Natural Born Killers or Kalifornia.     

Ben Affleck gives a great performance as Nick Dunne, but it is Rosamund Pike's performance as Amy that will bowl you over. Known for her previous work in action flicks like Jack Reacher and Die Another Day, Pike delivers an unforgettable performance in Gone Girl that is as full of shock and awe as Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction or Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion. Tyler Perry delivers a surprisingly solid performance as a high profile lawyer involved in Amy's disappearance while Neil Patrick Harris shows his Barney Stintson-esque flair as a flamboyant face from Amy's past.

Gone Girl is one movie that hits at the core over the conventional issues regarding marriage, trust, and fidelity without becoming a Lifetime movie of the week or stalling the plot with cliches resulting in one of David Fincher's finest works so far.