'Gone Girl': The movie doesn't move beyond the formulaic
鈥淕one聽Girl,鈥� directed by David Fincher and adapted rather faithfully by聽Gillian Flynn from her bestselling novel, is a murder mystery that may or聽may not actually contain a murder (or two).
I鈥檓 not a fan of larding reviews with spoiler alerts, so I鈥檒l just say that,聽in essence, for those who haven鈥檛 already read the book, 鈥淕one聽Girl鈥� is聽about a wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), who goes missing, and the husband,聽Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), who becomes a murder suspect. Amy and聽Nick, both struggling writers in New York, had relocated to small-town聽Missouri, where Nick鈥檚 mother is ailing. There they became bored out of聽their skulls. Their marriage, seemingly based on the fact that both parties聽are collectively better-looking than anybody else, disintegrates.聽
The film alternates between Nick鈥檚 and Amy鈥檚 perspective, with Amy鈥檚聽diary entries providing the necessary back story. The flashbacks to their聽swank New York lifestyle contrast harshly with the bland, grayed-out聽Missouri scenes. Fincher and Flynn betray a snooty bias here: Heartland聽equals boring. The only enlivening thing about this territory apparently is聽the violence that erupts from it.聽
I鈥檝e never been a huge fan of Fincher鈥檚 Prince of Darkness-like聽prowess. 鈥淪even鈥� and 鈥淭he Fight Club鈥� were a smart adolescent鈥檚 idea聽of the heart of darkness, and 鈥淭he Social Network鈥� was a glib, smart-alecky epic about a master race of supernerds. His best film, I think, was聽鈥淶odiac,鈥� which was overlong but mountingly creepy.
In his new film, as in his last, 鈥淭he聽Girl聽with the Dragon Tattoo,鈥� his聽directorial finesse can鈥檛 disguise the potboiler source material. (Nor does聽he seem to care.) The film鈥檚 stabs at social commentary 鈥� the constant聽barrage of tabloid TV coverage 鈥� are crushingly obvious. Affleck is聽smoothly proficient but (this is probably Fincher鈥檚 failing) skimps the聽darker shades that might have flipped this film from melodrama to drama. 聽Pike is riveting without being altogether interesting. She holds the screen聽with her beautful blankness. A few of the supporting players, including聽Kim Dickens, as a suspicious local cop, and Carrie Coon, as Nick鈥檚 twin聽sister, move beyond the formulaic, which is more than can be said for the聽movie. Grade:聽C+ (Rated R for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity, and language.)
