Synopsis: A scorned housewife decides to get revenge on her cheating husband by faking her own murder and planting evidence that makes him look like the killer. Her plan works and, in no time at all, the police and the national media believe she is dead and he is the one responsible. When he learns the truth, via a clue she purposely left behind, he must find a way to prove she is still alive before he is convicted and given the death penalty.
Movie Review: Gone Girl (2014)
by StevenHelmer
A review of the 2014 psychological drama starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.
Who's in it?
The movie stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Sela Ward, Carrie Coon and Kim Dickens.
Review
When my wife and I finally got around to watching this on DVD last night, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from it. I had heard some good things about the movie as well as some bad. But, all I really knew about it was there were a lot of people talking about some of the sex scenes in it and, because of that, I couldn’t help but wonder if this would turn out to be a soft core porn film disguised as a drama/thriller. However, as it turns out, the movie was actually better than I was expecting it to be.
I think the thing that really wins me over about this movie is the fact there really isn’t a true good guy in this. Yes, the wife, Amy (Pike), fakes her death and frames her husband for murder. However, the husband, Nick (Affleck), wasn’t exactly a saint. On some level at least, it could even be argued he deserved it. After all, he was fooling around with a woman who was young enough to be his daughter.
In essence, you could even argue they deserved each other. And, I think that realization is what made this movie so entertaining simply because it was difficult to tell how it was going to end.
As far as the sex scenes go, there were quite a few of them. However, unlike many other movies we’ve watched, they seemed to at least fit in with the plot rather than simply be gratuitous and were short enough to prevent them from being the most memorable part of the movie. In other words, while the movie probably could have done just fine without them, it wasn’t anything that really made me think any less of it.
Final Opinion
This is a pretty interesting psychological drama that does a good job of keeping you guessing about what is going to happen next. If you haven’t seen this film before, it is worth taking the time to rent it.
My Grade: A
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Updated: 11/11/2016, StevenHelmer
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Comments
I recently watched this movie too and found it fascinating. The ending was a bit weird, but was excusable because the rest of the movie was well done. Well cast too.
I agree that they did deserve each other, and I'll be curious to see how the ending of the movie corresponds to the ending in the book. The events that transpired simply were not believable. The book went from fabulous, with an intriguing storyline, to something I almost didn't finish reading.
The ending in the movie does drag on a bit and I'm guessing it's similar to the book. However, I did find I liked it because Affleck's character, ultimately, did deserve it. You don't refer to your wife as your soul mate while cheating on her with a 20-year-old and, even when he thought she was missing/dead, he seemed less concerned about her than his reputation.
I read the book Gone Girl and loved it, until the end. It got stupid beyond belief, and ruined the whole thing for me. They must have done a better job with the movie, but I haven't bothered to watch it yet.