“Gone Girl,” a mystery marital thriller based on the much anticipated Gillian Flynn best-selling novel, stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike with Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry in small roles.
Ben Affleck plays a married man named Nick Dunne whose wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) has suddenly gone missing on their fifth wedding anniversary, which comes complete with a scavenger hunt with clues revealed to advance the movie’s plot. He soon becomes the main suspect in her disappearance.
The two meet at a party and sparks fly. Soon they are living together in New York, before having to move to Missouri to be near his mom. Nick runs a bar with his sister Margo in a quiet town, where not much seems to happen.
When police find a broken glass table and blood splatters in their suburban home, Nick explains his alibi to skeptical detectives while Amy’s chilling perspective is told through her voice-over diary entries and flashbacks.
It’s a story of a marriage that a husband and wife (and the audience) think they have figured out, yet one that is filled with deception and betrayal, one where each is left wondering, “What have we done to each other?”
Nick’s sister Margo is the loyal, wisecracking sister who tells it like it is and who gives us a relief of nervous laughter from the dark and increasingly diabolical turns in the movie.
Neil Patrick Harris, who is known mostly for comedy, turns in a good performance, as Amy’s ex-boyfriend Desi, who plays a key role in the picture. The media makes Nick out to be the bad guy, even before all the facts are out. The movie is effective poking fun at how far tabloid media will go in high-profile cases.
Pike, the inspiration of the Amazing Amy children’s book series written by her parents, plays a very complex character who is best to know as little as possible of prior to viewing. All that can be said (no spoiler here) is that she is beautiful yet icy, smart yet demanding.
Affleck meanwhile in a solid performance is charming, yet smug as a former professor and writer and now, due to the economic downturn, bar owner who seems curiously unaffected by his wife’s disappearance. While portrayed as deceitful and less than likable, Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect, but is he capable of murder?
As more suspicion is aroused, Nick turns to high-profile attorney Tanner Bolt (played by Tyler Perry), who assures Nick that he can win his case. Perry who is usually known for over-the-top performances, here gives a subtle performance.
The movie challenges you to think, as you try to put together the narrative. Its many sick and sadistic twists and turns (usually believable, but at times preposterous) definitely kept me guessing. As soon as you think you’ve got things figured out, you realize you haven’t as the plot takes weirder and wilder turns. That being said, the deflated ending left me less than satisfied, a small price to pay for being riveted for most of the film.
