Gone Girl (2014)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

Edited October 2, 2014 by Impact

[ShouldIBeHere]

Probably my favourite movie of the year thus far. Stellar direction and atmosphere.

 

Ben Affleck is really, really good... with Pyke being phenomenal and the supporting roles such as Neil Patrick Harris manage to create very iconic characters.

 

But it is the direction which is the real star here... and not in the sense of feeling "oh, good directing" while watching the movie - it is far too captivating for that. But afterwards you realize how well done it was without having an "in-your-face" approach. 

 

A

Edited October 1, 2014 by ShouldIBeHere

[Deep Wang]

That's some good stuff right there.  

 

Fucked up as only Fincher knows how to do it.

[Breakspear]

A quick post after just seeing it. 

 

Fincher fucking nails it again. So does Pike, amazing performance. Affleck is great too. 

 

A all the way. 

[Hatebox]

Since we're allowed spoilers in this thread - are there any big differences to the book?

[CJohn]

Holy shit. Amazing movie. My favorite of the year so far. Rosamund Pike is brilliant. 

[bapi]

Very, very good movie. In my Top5 this year so far. And can imagine some noms - Pike (she's phenomenal), Ben's sister, adapted screenplay.

 

8/10

[bapi]

I was surprised to see Batfleck's dick.

[Vanilla]

Best of the year. Loved every minute of it. Pike is the stand out of the year IMO.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Loved it really great movie. The movie keeps the tension going. The acting was fantastic. Fincher  does a brilliant job as the director. 

[Kevin Bacon]

So this was fucking awesome. Like Dragon Tattoo, it had some pulp-y, schlocky stuff, but unlike that movie, this one for an hour or so is a straight-forward unraveling mystery thriller and then the twist comes and it gets crazy. Also unlike that movie, this one isn't a one-character show (well two if you count Martin who only really came out late in the movie) nor does it take itself particularly seriously which only help to make it more memorable where Dragon Tattoo was much less so outside of a couple big scenes.

 

So, the twist. I kind of guessed the gist of it from the fact that the actress with the role of "missing woman" was getting rave reviews and the knowledge that there was a game-changing twist midway through, but I never foresaw how well-executed it'd be. Pike as we all know nails it, and the reveal is accompanied by fucking stellar direction and music from Reznor/Ross (who've done their best work here). All of a sudden every bit of irony is played up for maximum comical effect and the movie becomes an outright satire and it's amazing. It is, however, a pretty dire tonal shift from the grim and more grounded thriller we'd just spent an hour or so investing in, and while that's not an issue in and of itself, the contrast makes the nuttiness of the plot a bit more noticeable than it would be in a movie that was so pulpy from the outset.

 

And then we have the ending. The murder/staged rape was the most ridiculous thing in the whole movie and I think I have more an issue with it than the ending itself. I mean, it's not necessarily bad but it's one of those moments where you have to accept that this isn't an elite drama and instead an crazy, dark, fun, thriller--which can be disappointing when you're dealing with a guy as talented as Fincher, and in that respect it's okay to wish he'd choose to direct different material. It's certainly more Seven than Zodiac.

 

All the performances are perfect. Affleck, Pike, Coon, Perry, Harris. Affleck nailed it in a way I haven't seen him do so before, Pike was a revelation, Coon was a surprise, and Perry and Harris were great but it wasn't really surprising because Fincher's weird cast choices always are.

 

Probably my favorite movie of the year thus far, though I've seen pretty little so take that with a grain of salt. Ranking it among Fincher is harder, in part because ranking his movies is hard enough when you haven't just seen one. But, alas, I'll try.

 

1. Fight Club

1b. The Social Network

1c. Zodiac

4. Seven

5. Gone Girl

6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

7. The Game

8. Panic Room

9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Edited October 3, 2014 by Seth Rollins

[Kevin Bacon]

Also I kind of wandered there and actually didn't talk about the ending. It was just there. I didn't hate it or love it. I feel apathetic to it, it didn't resonate at all. If I'm writing the movie, the first thing that comes to my mind is Nick kills Amy for real and then goes to jail to it. Darkly comical ending that I think would fit the tone of the movie. This ending, it just kinda happened, it almost feels like it wanted you to go "that's it?". The "Nick stays with Amy" thing could have been better, I think (if still unsatisfying), if it had been a bit more fleshed out, but it happened so suddenly with pretty much just a brief conversation with his sister that it's like the cards were laid out for the last major conflict, and then Nick just went "fuck it, she wins".

 

But at the same time it didn't really detract from the movie. It had been such a crazy ride up to that point that it frankly didn't seem to matter how it ended, by the time I had left the theater I had already forgotten about and started remembering everything else. A stronger ending definitely would've elevated the movie, but I don't think this one really hurt it.

[acsc1312]

Rosamund. Fucking. Pike. The best casting decision I've seen in a while. She is a tour-de-force in this near-flawless film. A. Second to ony boyhood this year

[ChD]

Pike still has to blow me away with one of her roles. I liked Affleck really much in this, but the thing I loved most is that Go remained just as awesome as she was in the book.

 

The ending, just like with the book, I hated.

[75Live]

Yeah I had a private screening of this last night, it was just me and two other friends.  We all really liked it and got to talk about it a lot afterwards.

 

There was plenty to enjoy about the film and how good it really was.  I do like the way they portrayed the press and tv show hosts.  I think they nailed that pretty well.

 

I didn't mind the ending, but I do think it is one of the weaker parts of the movie.  If even just because they could have done more with it or even had more story to tell.

 

Fincher definitely knows how to get performances from people and it showed here.

 

A

[ChD]

Also, forgot to mention. The score is really weak when it is listened to without the movie, but damn does it fit with the movie perfectly.

[Crusader]

Honestly?

 

Another overrated straight up b-movie offering from Fincher

 

First off it has literally no business being as long as it is particularly cause it doesn't make a point at any time during its duration. The story is bonkers and straight up pulp stuff that just gets more and more ridiculous as it goes. There is no character development whatsoever and while Pike is rather good in her cheap thriller role ( I hope that this also cheap bestseller does give the female character a bit more or I would be worried about the author's perspective ... I don't know who the author is btw nor did I have any knowledge about the book at all before seeing this ) Ben Affleck is the epitome of an actor just being himself in every movie. People say that about Cruise and other stars a lot but Ben Affleck no matter how hard he tries always just does a perfectly good Ben Affleck - nothing more nothing less. And quite frankly its not as mysterious as it thinks it is some things are telephoned in ages before they happen and when the NPH delusional ex came in to the story I was like 'next 20 minutes are pointless and quite plodding because she will kill him' and voila it happens.

 

That being said - Fincher does stage it mostly well if overlong and he goes through the whole thing a competent yet overly operatic manner but since its Fincher people are all over it having Seven in the back of their head and giving this one raves it clearly doesn't deserve.

 

Leave the airport bestseller stand Fincher and go back to real films

 

6/10

Edited October 3, 2014 by Crusader

[CloneWars]

Honestly?

 

Another overrated straight up b-movie offering from Fincher

 

First off it has literally no business being as long as it is particularly cause it doesn't make a point at any time during its duration. The story is bonkers and straight up pulp stuff that just gets more and more ridiculous as it goes. There is no character development whatsoever and while Pike is rather good in her cheap thriller role ( I hope that this also cheap bestseller does give the female character a bit more or I would be worried about the author's perspective ... I don't know who the author is btw nor did I have any knowledge about the book at all before seeing this ) Ben Affleck is the epitome of an actor just being himself in every movie. People say that about Cruise and other stars a lot but Ben Affleck no matter how hard he tries always just does a perfectly good Ben Affleck - nothing more nothing less. And quite frankly its not as mysterious as it thinks it is some things are telephoned in ages before they happen and when the NPH delusional ex came in to the story I was like 'next 20 minutes are pointless and quite plodding because she will kill him' and voila it happens.

 

That being said - Fincher does stage it mostly well if overlong and he goes through the whole thing a competent yet overly operatic manner but since its Fincher people are all over it having Seven in the back of their head and giving this one raves it clearly doesn't deserve.

 

Leave the airport bestseller stand Fincher and go back to real films

 

6/10

Agreed. The movie isn't anything special. However, I do feel it was well-directed. My personal grade is a B mainly because the story didn't move me, and I did feel about 10 to 15 minutes could have been trimmed.

[AniNate]

Really solid effort from Fincher. A little overlong but the relentless plot twists and entertaining performanes kept me engaged for the entire runtime.

[Kevin Bacon]

Honestly?

 

Another overrated straight up b-movie offering from Fincher

 

First off it has literally no business being as long as it is particularly cause it doesn't make a point at any time during its duration. The story is bonkers and straight up pulp stuff that just gets more and more ridiculous as it goes. There is no character development whatsoever and while Pike is rather good in her cheap thriller role ( I hope that this also cheap bestseller does give the female character a bit more or I would be worried about the author's perspective ... I don't know who the author is btw nor did I have any knowledge about the book at all before seeing this ) Ben Affleck is the epitome of an actor just being himself in every movie. People say that about Cruise and other stars a lot but Ben Affleck no matter how hard he tries always just does a perfectly good Ben Affleck - nothing more nothing less. And quite frankly its not as mysterious as it thinks it is some things are telephoned in ages before they happen and when the NPH delusional ex came in to the story I was like 'next 20 minutes are pointless and quite plodding because she will kill him' and voila it happens.

 

That being said - Fincher does stage it mostly well if overlong and he goes through the whole thing a competent yet overly operatic manner but since its Fincher people are all over it having Seven in the back of their head and giving this one raves it clearly doesn't deserve.

 

Leave the airport bestseller stand Fincher and go back to real films

 

6/10

It's funny you mention Seven because this movie actually got me wondering why I love Seven so much (or what exactly made it so much better than this). Most of my issues here were about stuff that also was present in Seven. Like, a few preposterous scenes and pulpy plot twists? Seven featured a woman being raped to death with a strap-on knife dildo by a guy with a gun to his head. A killer who cuts off his fingertips to avoid being caught. A detective's wife's detached head being delivered into the middle of the desert. Hell, the entire premise of a serial killer with a seven deadly sins gimmick is as "airport novel" as anything in this movie. The shit that happens in Seven makes "woman successfully stages fake rape and murder". That shit's happened, albeit under less dramatic circumstances. From a technical perspective, this movie had the better acting (Pitt and Freeman were great but pretty par-for-the-course), it had tighter direction from a much more refined Fincher, it certainly had better music, it had a wicked sense of humor that Seven rarely had. Though Seven did obviously have a much better ending.

 

And none of this is meant as a dig at Seven, the movie's still a classic, but when really looked at it was a really fun wicked thriller, just like this movie, but certainly not at the level of Fight Club, The Social Network, or Zodiac. Even Fight Club was as great as it was due more in part to the incredible source material (in addition to the two lead performances). Fincher's a much better director now than he was back then, and he's got a sterling reputation and one of the greatest songwriters of our time making music for him. And none of this is to say you can't dislike this movie, the criticisms of the plot have weight to them, but don't act like Fincher's coasting by on his great work of yesteryear because even if his past two films haven't been masterpieces, he's very clearly better now than he's ever been at what he does.