IMDB Summary : With his wife’s disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it’s suspected that he may not be innocent.
We search for that perfect person we can commit to until we die. If it’s love, the world feels colorful and lively. But after you got married, it’s a different phase. Like Amy (Rosamund Pike) said in her diary, “Marriage is hard work and compromise.”
After Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reported to the police that his wife is missing, people start questioning whether he really wants his wife back. It comes from his cool look with less emotional state in response to the disappearance of his wife. Since it happens to their 5th anniversary, Amy leaves clues to the presents she wants, like the previous years. It’s not obvious if she leaves it before or after her disappearance. Detective investigates and people searched for her. It flashbacks with Amy’s story according to her diary. One neighbor claiming as Amy’s best friend said Amy is pregnant, which according to Nick he doesn’t recognize her or know about the news.
You ever hear the expression the simplest answer is often the correct one?David Fincher is known to direct a story to be a high quality thriller, with twists, horrifying psychology and cold atmosphere that makes you stunned. Gone Girl is one of them. Maybe the fact isn’t the real shock of the story. The shock came from how human can do things to make it their way. How for some people, manipulating is their way to survive. It was all wrapped in husband and wife’s rocky relationship. It resembles to how after a while in a relationship, people can grew apart.
The problems between Amy and Nick is a common marriage problems, a sensitive issue when it comes to finance, where Nick just got laid off and soon Amy too. Where also Nick is in his low state of life, especially after his mother just passed away. But Amy also sacrifices her life in New York, when she moved with him to Missouri to take care of his mother. After a demanding life with career in New York, to a sub-urban wife is quite a transition. She performs well as a devoted wife, until she disappears. Who did wrong? It shows the hollow world in an unhappy marriage, whereas the opposite you should be happy living with the man or woman of your dreams.
Rosamund Pike is the star of the film. I am fascinated by her ability and performance, that I feel it is wrong if she doesn’t get recognized for her role as Amy. Whoever casted her did an amazing job. Whoever questioned her to take the role is crazy. She successfully established herself as the blond with brains, possibly makes herself in the same level as Nicole Kidman, who we all agree can perform basically every role. It wouldn’t be weird if Pike won a prestigious award for the role.
As for Ben Affleck, his cool exterior helps people make all kinds of guesses whether he’s innocent or guilty. Sometimes the things he said seem doesn’t come from his real feelings. Just few seconds of his smile to the cameras makes him easy to be judged as a bad husband. Luckily for him, he has a supportive twin sister, Margo (Carrie Coon), who coincidentally doesn’t get along with Amy.
Another phenomenon brought in the movie was how big the media influence to control people’s opinion. It’s one sad truth that people can easily be bought over a drama caused by the media, can easily hate and love someone just from a show. It’s also very easy to judge a person just by that. So it’s down to someone’s image all over again.
I admire how this movie show that image can easily fool us, and sometimes it manipulate us into thinking what we want to believe. It’s very easy to hate someone after he shows his incredibility, but the more intelligent people would ask why he does that. Fincher able to make what it could be a standard missing people case and common marriage problem to a classy thriller, and one of it has to do with picking the right actors, like Rosamund Pike. Neil Patrick Harris also starred being Amy’s ex-boyfriend. Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) as an average police officer, sadly.
Moral of the story I got was, marriage can be rocky and it’s a team work. But you better know who you’re married to before it’s too late. Also, sometimes you prefer to save your own image than anything else. In this movie’s case, it’s saving your image and your life at the same time.
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