Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry

Directed by David Fincher

Synopsis:
Nick (Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) seem to have the picture-perfect life.  They live in an upper class neighborhood, they seem to have money and everything they need, but things aren't as perfect as they seem.  When Amy goes missing, the spotlight centers on Nick and as all the dark secrets come to light, public opinion begins to sway against Nick, and many wonder if he indeed did murder his own wife.

Review:
I honestly have no clue what all the praise is about for this film.  The only decent thing was Rosamund Pike's performance (which deserved the Oscar nomination for Best Actress), but other than that it seemed like a long...VERY long...Lifetime movie.

Did I mention long?  Because the movie was almost 2 and a half hours.  That is a long time to keep my attention without any action sequences or likeable characters.  The characters in the film are completely one dimensional and bland.  Ben Affleck's character is an undeserved snob who looks down on other people, doesn't care for anyone but himself, and is otherwise an incredibly dislikable character, and he's the one we're supposed to feel bad for.  I feel bad for wasting my time trying to see him act.  Hopefully he'll be a better Batman than husband.

I can't say much about Rosamund Pike's performance, because that would give away major plot points, but she performed brilliantly and, like I said earlier, she deserved her Academy nomination. 

Then there's some horrible choices for casting.  Neil Patrick Harris as Amy's shady ex-boyfriend?  No one  believes he'd be even remotely interested in her, especially since you couldn't get past his real-life relationship compared to the film, because it was clear you were seeing Neil Patrick Harris trying to play a serious role.

Then Tyler Perry as the top-notch defense lawyer.  I fully expected Madea to make an appearance to issue a mistrial or something.  He cannot do serious roles, he's forever typecast as Madea for me.

Finally there was the story itself.  People say it's so cerebral and thought-provoking, but it was none of that for me.  I pretty much knew what would happen from start to finish without knowing anything about the story beforehand, and I was pretty much dead on - for the parts I stayed awake for anyway.

Oh, one more positive, the performance by Missi Pyle as Ellen Abbott, a television host who has very strong Nancy Grace-style hosting (basically she blamed Nick for everything from day one).  Spot-on parody.

Summary:
Maybe you have to be female to fully appreciate this film, because all the women I've talked to about it loved this film, but for me, it was a long, drawn-out Lifetime movie.

My Rating: B