GONE GIRL is one of the best films of the year and one of the best David Fincher movies of his directing career.   I love the reversals and twists in this movie.   The first major twist occurs about one hour in to be followed by more twists and reversals.   Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are the center of this movie along with the other stars- the direction of David Fincher and the music score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.   GONE GIRL deserves some nominations and awards because it proves why David Fincher is still one of the best directors of this time.

 

The movie starts like normal for Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), but he discovers his wife Amy Elliot-Dunne (Rosamund Pike) has disappeared.  The signs point to a break-in and abduction, but the evidence is off as blood is discovered like it has been cleaned up.  Did Nick kill his wife and covering it up or is something else going on?   The story goes back and forth between three stories for the first hour- the story from Nick’s point of view, the investigation lead by Detective Rhonda Boney, and Amy’s diary which casts some doubts on Nick’s story and his relationship with Amy.   Amy and Nick are struggling New York writers who have moved back to Nick’s hometown after they both lose their writing jobs for magazines.   Nick runs a bar with his twin sister Margo called The Bar.   GONE GIRL pulls you back and forth in different directions as you see how the media portrays the disappearance of Amy Dunne and how Nick tries to use the media to his advantage, but the real twist is an hour into the movie that casts doubts the story in Amy’s diary as it throws doubt on everything and Nick works to fight to prove his innocence as you wonder up to that point of he is being framed up for something he might not have done.

 

GONE GIRL is one of David Fincher’s masterpieces that is full of complexity, technical mastery, and another great music score from Reznor and Ross (who have previously scored for other Fincher movies- THE SOCIAL NETWORK and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO). Nick is a struggling writer who isn’t bright as he seems, but the media dub his relationship with his sister as twincest while his wife Amy is basically the type you don’t want to ignore.   GONE GIRL is the tale of several stories with one being the questionable narrator thrown in the mix and there is nothing like what a woman would do if she’s scorned more than once.   GONE GIRL is one of the Fincher masterpieces that will stand up as one of his best movies even after he is gone.   It is the type of movie that will be remembered as a classic and a masterpiece.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The only crime about this release is the lack of making-of extra that usually comes with prior David Fincher movies.   All we get is a code to download and stream a Digital HD copy of the movie and an audio commentary by David Fincher. 

 

The audio commentary has Fincher talk about the characters and stories, finding the perfect town to shoot it in, how the cat was the perfect actor who never left his spot, and how the story was crafted through production and editing.   It also features how OCD Fincher is in shooting a scene again and again (whether it is 20 or 20 takes) until he gets it the way he wants.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  If you are a fan of David Fincher’s movies, I advise you just rent this one and wait for a future edition with extensive making-of extras that were done for previous Fincher movies.  If you are looking to watch one of the better movies of 2014 and don’t care for extras, you can either buy or rent it without having to worry about wanting to buy a future special edition set.

 

This review is ©1-16-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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