Gone Girl – a film by David Fincher

Gone Girl – a film by David Fincher

The adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s pacey mystery novel may take a while to gather momentum but that is due to the author herself, who wrote the screenplay and ensured a faithful rendition of her book. However the novel, through its clever use of presenting the views from the main protagonists as the facts according to Amy versus Nick, holds the reader’s attention more effectively than the first hour of the film.

When the pace does quicken, the film works well. Once Amy is in the midst of her escape plan it powers through the will he won’t he survive storyline of Nick Dunne (pretty boy Ben Affleck at work again here) and what has happened to his missing wife, Amy. Rosamund Pike, in her portrayal of Amy, is the best thing about the film. In her role, Pike provides a smooth transition from “Amazing Amy” as the writer of children’s books to “cool girl” and then to maybe “gone girl”. Like her complexion, she is flawless as the ice cold, calculating blond. Even Alfred Hitchcock, who knew a thing or two about blond placement in his suspense films, would have been impressed.

Pike’s performance aside, Gone Girl is still a far cry from director David Fincher’s earlier works – namely Seven which, nearly 20 years on, still leaves me terrified.