I have to praise David Fincher. He is one of the few "BIG" directors (meaning accepted by Hollywood) with a real ambition, a will of doing "something else" with blockbusters. 'Gone Girl' aims to subvert crime genre boundaries, something he has achieved previously with fascinating results (see 'Zodiac' by far his best movie if you ask me), in a bold and brave attempt. But this time, imo, the overall result is, sadly, disappointing.
The story of the Dunnes, the perfect couple of Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy (Rosamund Pike) is umm... a bit annoying from the very beginning, but I'm not saying that as a criticism. I'm pretty sure Fincher wants to portray them as cliche-bounded (oh, two more young, handsome, NYC smart writers taken from a Tommy Hilfiger ad) so as the story unfolds while Amy goes missing the scars on their five year marriage keep appearing they look like gigantic cracks.
Of course, all suspicions point out to Nick. Here's a very interesting take on media (in particular to the ubiquitous and obnoxious programs of "social concern") and their role of social commentators, transforming what it should be a dramatic situation into a reality show. Fincher is telling us there's a reality clash between the image your portray to the others (here exaggerated to the extreme, as the others is that blurred concept of public opinion) and the one behind the doors of your home. Which is the important one? Unfortunately, the first one (the war was lost quite a long ago).
So far so good, you'll say. But the problem is Fincher completely looses the point, and the focus. It's clear he is not interested in presenting us a solid, convincing crime story, but that's exactly what the narrative of the screenplay (penned by Gillian Flynn, the book's author) is supposed to be. So why the lame work on that side? I get it David, after the story big twist arrives (no spoilers) it's all a GREAT FARCE, but the resorts you used are weak to the point of being ludicrous. Fincher seems to be saying us: "laugh with me, because the characters are all insane. Marriage is insane. Violence is insane. Oh, wait, all is insane, see?" Sure David, but then, why do you need me to stay for 149 minutes watching this, at times, serious nonsense? When Amy's story gets the lead, the film is not only unbeliavable. The plotholes an unbalances abound to an unbearable extent for such an experienced director. My God, I can't remember a more absurd character than the one played by Neil Patrick Harris' (not his fault, he does what he can with the material), unless its a fierce satire against How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson...
Reading the majority of the critics general praise I agree with the assertions on the movie weirdness, twisted, dark-humorous, stylised visual package. Pretty ok too with the opinions saying the two main actors gave their best... And as I said in the first paragraph, I salute Fincher's riskiness. But to me, 'Gone Girl' is not a thrilling ride, not even a satisfactory farce on marriage, fame, public opinion and rubbish TV... To me it's closer to 'Fatal Attraction', 'Basic Instinct' and, occasionally, not that far away from all the terrible TV-movies you can see in Spain any Sunday afternoon.
SCORE: 4,75/10
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