"Gone Girl" is a dramatic crime thriller starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike and Carrie Coon in the most prevalent roles. It tells the story of a husband, Ben Affleck, left lost after he comes home to find his home in shatters and his wife, Rosamund Pike, missing. Through a series of flashbacks and character-on-character interactions we stand witness to them doing their best to solve the case of the Gone Girl.
Pure visually this is one of the most beautiful films I've seen this year, which isn't all too surprising considering it's directed by David Fincher who's again brought with him cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth. Cronenweth has worked on such films as "Fight Club", "One Hour Photo", and "The Social Network". Every frame in "Gone Girl" seems to have a perfect place in the story, and there's a symbiosis between the cinematographer and editor that you rarely see. It's the kind of film any film lover should watch if only for the technical aspect of it. Even if you happen to not be entertained by the narrative, I believe you would be by the sheer effort that has been put into adapting it to the screen.
The acting can be a bit up and down, I'll admit. Some times it is very good, on the level where you wouldn't be too surprised by it being on the short list for awards, but at other times it's almost as if they're not trying at all. The acting falls short almost intentionally and uses the the narrative and visuals as a crutch to keep going. Don't get me wrong, the acting is not god awful, I'm not talking "Kraa! The Sea Monster" level here, it's just an occasional, but noticeable, dip in an otherwise very well put together film. Those are the moments where I start to see the film for the film, the moments where I lose touch with it as a whole, and it's a shame.
Luckily almost everything else makes it worth watching, and worth a lot of praise. Carrie Coon is one of the few who doesn't suffer from the occasional downfall in acting, and I would be more surprised if she didn't get some nod for supporting actress than if she did. It's also refreshing to see Tyler Perry in a role like this. He's a man who's mostly been associated with low-brow, low-hanging films that are designed just to please the masses and make a good profit. There's nothing wrong with that as a business model, but it's always nice to see those kind of people have a lot of talent and dare to show it off in work that's completely different from what they normally do.
Overall this film is very good. It's not quite in my top 10 of the year, but it's close. It's definitely one of the better "serious" films I've seen this year. I don't quite like to differentiate between "serious" and "non-serious" films, but there should be some distinction. I would feel bad to judge something like "47 Ronin" on the same grounds as "Dallas Buyers Club", or a film like "Ida" to a film like "Maleficent". It's just not fair, mostly to the serious films actually, as I tend to enjoy a film purely designed to entertain more often than a film designed to intrigue. There's a lot more that can go wrong with intrigue than can with joy.
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