Gone Girl (Spoiler Territory)
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Gone Girl is a terrifically entertaining motion picture – twisted, bloody, satirical, inventive, and brilliant. I want to see more movies like Gone Girl, and Nightcrawler, please. Usually, my reviews are intended for those who havent seen the movie Im talking about. Not the case here.
If you have not seen Gone Girl, do not continue reading!!! (Though if you have read the book, you should be fine I havent read the book, but Im told that the film is a very close literary adaptation.)
The first hour of Gone Girl will have viewers accepting scenes at face value. This includes the couples first meet at a party, the perfect proposal, and the inevitable disintegration of their marriage.
The characters are established as the types in which they appear the distant husband, and the educated Manhattan socialite who just wants more for herself. Sixty minutes into Gone Girl, this all changes. Rosamund Pikes character is alive and well and has gone to comically ridiculous lengths to fake her own murder (along the way, faking a pregnancy to the degree it is possible, and leaving Ben Afflecks character in financial ruins).
David Fincher is very much a cause-and-effect type of filmmaker, showing how one thing leads to another and another and another (almost always against a haunting, beautifully photographed backdrop). Just yesterday, I revisited Finchers The Game and to me it was clear that Fincher is a how director rather than a why. A why director would have created a tidy ending for The Game; Fincher less so he is more interested in process as opposed to resolution. And in Gone Girl, were able to see just how Pike fakes her death before returning home. With Fincher being a how director, the why is left to us to figure out. Which leads me to a few questions.
Who in the hell is Rosamund Pike?
The Queen of Femme Fatales. Any other movie would have ended with Pikes character getting away with the perfect crime and sipping a martini on a beach somewhere. Were not even halfway through the film when this big twist is revealed.
Finchers how method is explained by Pike taking on a number of varied stereotypes we see her on the run as she has her own interior monologue; her fake diary paints her as a woman victimized by her cold-blooded husband; when shes at the motel, she is a Southerner on the run from a violent boyfriend; and eventually, she resurfaces as a survivor who is comfortable enough to give a version of her story on talk shows. She is constantly shifting, and were constantly guessing, and thats part of what makes Gone Girl a perversely fun cinematic experience.
At one point, we discover that Pike has manipulated and severely toyed with not just Affleck, but a couple of former boyfriends as well. Neil Patrick Harriss character is supposedly a stalker, but when we meet him, he doesnt appear all that creepy. He isnt a fully fleshed out character, but that isnt a criticism, merely an observation. I think it is because everything weve heard about NPH has been from Pikes viewpoint. And so, when he is brought on screen, he doesnt seem real; instead, he appears as a manifestation of all these conflicting thoughts and ideas we have of him. Whatever disharmonic past these two had, they keep in touch through direct mail. Why? She needed an ace in the hole for this prodigious scheme. It is only when Pike and NPH connect that we are able to see Pike plot and scheme while shes doing it. Here, she is in a situation where she ends up feeling as entrapped as she felt in her marriage with Afflecks character. Shes too confined, she cant go anywhere, and so she breaks out of it in her own ridiculous way. This leads to the films disgusting, bloody, Verhoeven-esque climax.
Why does she return home?
When Afflecks character went on the talk show to tell his side of the story and apologized for his failures as a husband, he was able to turn around the publics perception of him. The public is sympathetic towards him, thus messing up Pikes plans. She didnt buy into Afflecks sad speech. But, when she saw him on television, she realized that this is the person she could be with. That he has it in him to be as manipulative as she is and they can make the best out of the situation they are in together. Returning home wasnt part of her initial plan she didnt anticipate being robbed in the motel and having to resort to contacting NPH. In her mind, if she is able to return home, she is in full control of everything and the two can be honest about the manipulation honest about their lies. Affleck has no choice. What is he going to do: breakup with the victim of a horrific kidnapping who was repeatedly raped?
Is her story error-free?
Lord, no. But viewers of these talk shows accept it because her story is comprised of elements people want to believe. Or like to believe. Her market research consists of watching television and reading bestsellers. She knows that American audiences love pregnant women. So, she fakes her pregnancy and then commits the seemingly perfect crime by concocting the perfect rocky marriage.
Why does she do what she does?
Can we blame all this on Amazing Amy, the book character her life was the inspiration of? Amazing Amy has it all, does it all, and is always right. Could these books be encouraging Pikes character to be more amazing be the one to outsmart everyone else and win the day?
So, what is Gone Girl really about?
Those calling Gone Girl the worst date movie in the history of the cinema are mistaken. It isnt about marriage or relationships. Its about how people take on a number of different roles, whether it is to reach a level of compromise with another person, manipulate them, or implicate them. The movie opens and ends with the same question What is really going on in your head? There is no answer. QED.
