Nick Dunne’s day goes from bad to worse as on his anniversary, after talking to his sister in the bar he then returns home to a strange scene in his house. Contacts the police and they report his wife as a missing person, everything then begins to point in his direction as the clues work against him.
The story all unfolds at a good pace and will keep you guessing as to what is going to happen next throughout the film. Some of the things which unfold you would never guess at all, which I guess is a good thing about the film. You are never really sure who to trust and who to believe as another thing happens which makes you doubt pretty much everything.
I liked the way the story is told in flashback form through a diary which has been written by Amy. It paints a picture of how perfect everything was for the couple and how it all began to change as well. A media frenzy is surrounding the whole case and this just adds to the pressure, Detective Rhonda Boney is very in-depth and doesn’t seem to miss anything at all.
I found myself siding with Nick straight away he didn’t seem like a bad guy at all, I think one of the smaller plot changes (and most expected) was that he was cheating on Amy. This didn’t come as much of a shock, but really does add to the whole film. It gives it that different edge and a possible reason to why Amy turned a little bit psycho?
Add in some great supporting characters like Margo, Nick’s twin and they share some brilliant scenes together. Not forgetting the very small role for Neil Patrick Harris as Desi. I cannot really say very much about his role at all as this would totally spoil the whole film, but he does have a very nice creepy edge which is far away from his usually type of role.
I thought Ben Affleck pulled out a top performance as Nick Dunne and really carries the film well. He gets under your skin and you really do feel for him at times and kinda shake your head at some of the decisions he makes as well but that adds to his character. I seem to be pretty on the fence about Affleck in general but this is certainly one of his better films and he deserves a lot of praise for this role.
Fincher has a good style and I always seem to enjoy his films, they always have a good edge and pace to them which makes them easier and more enjoyable to watch. Let’s face it that is what we all really want out of a film to be able to enjoy it, having moments which keep you guessing and thinking isn’t a bad thing either. All adds to the thriller genre which is pretty damn good when its right.
You may think this has a rather long running time, but it honestly doesn’t feel that long at all. Also in the UK it is carrying a 18 rating, which doesn’t happen very often. I predicted before it started that it must have the use of the ‘c word’ quite a few times. Which does about 5/6 times but all together! It seems to be getting a lot of attention at the moment and I am sure it will be a pretty big box office hit and probably one of the better films I have seen this year.
The ending did leave me rather disappointed but I can understand why it was the way it is – trying not to spoil it in any way and realize that probably doesn’t even make much sense. I am interested to now read other people’s thoughts on this one, in particular the ending!!!