With a critic score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, "Gone Girl" was one of the best movies of 2014 and my all-time favorite. Based off of the novel by Gillian Flynn and directed by David Fincher, "Gone Girl" tells the story of Amy Elliot's (Rosamund Pike) sudden disappearance. On the morning of her fifth anniversary with her husband, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), Amy goes missing. Without hesitation, Nick becomes the prime suspect. As the movie starts off, the image of Amy and Nick's courtship is one of very few flaws -- but as the dark, mysterious and intelligent two-and-a-half hour movie reaches its climax, many mysteries unravel and several plot-twists take place.
The movie's very obvious strong point is the cast. The performances in this film are absolutely amazing. They are unbelievable and, in some ways, shocking. Going into this movie, I was skeptical about some casting choices and had very little expectations for some actors, but by the time the movie had finished, I was blown away.
Ben Affleck's performance is the best by far. Even though he's my favorite actor, I'll be honest -- Affleck was very inconsistent before this movie. He had never been a bad actor, but he made some poor and questionable career choices (*cough* "Gigli" *cough*). Before "Gone Girl," Affleck was never really looked at as a star in Hollywood. Lucky for him, "Gone Girl" revamped his career. He was phenomenal is his portrayal of the creepy, awkward and mysterious Nick Dunne. Affleck deserved an Oscar, if not at least a nomination for this role. The fact that he never got the praise he deserved for his performance disappoints me.
Rosamund Pike was also great in her portrayal of the sick and twisted Amy Elliot. I didn't have a clue who Pike was before watching this movie. I remember sitting in the theater wondering who she was, but I never knew her. After the film ended, I was taken away. She was one of the actors that I was skeptical about beforehand, but I was wrong. She was great and provided the audience with many surprising plot-twists. Deservedly so, Pike was nominated for many awards for her twisted portrayal of "Amazing Amy."
Neil Patrick Harris was in the movie for a short period of time, but he was great as well. He portrayed one of Amy's ex-boyfriends, Desi Collings. This was a casting choice that I was very excited for, but the performance still exceeded my high expectations. In the novel, Flynn does a tremendous job crafting such a creepy and intense character in Desi Collings, and Patrick-Harris brings him perfectly to life.
The movie excelled in every way possible and exceeded my, already very high, expectations. The performances blew me away while the plot twists left me speechless. This film was a perfectly executed drama with just the right amount of mystery. Gillian Flynn's novel was given the big-screen adaptation it deserved thanks to director, David Fincher.
Verdict: 96%
