Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in Gillian Flynn’s film adaptation of the 2012 book, “Gone Girl.”
By Sara Masterson, Staff Writer
I finally watched ‘Gone Girl,’ the 2014 American psychological thriller film, over spring break. Directed by David Fincher, ‘Gone Girl’ is based on the popular 2012 novel written by Gillian Flynn.
The film was well-received by critics and obtained nominations such as Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards and Best Director of a Motion Picture.
Being a fan of the novel, I was very excited to view the film.
Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pick were perfect choices to play the two main characters, Nick and Amy Dunne. Their love/hate relationship meshed well and felt believable. Tyler Perry, cast as a lawyer,
added some comic relief to the mostly dark film. Neil Patrick Harris, usually cast in a funny role, did an exceptional job acting in a good-natured manner while drawing in sympathy for his character. B u t t h e a c t r e s s to really standout was a newcomer. Kim Dickens, cast as Detective Rhonda Boney, won the audience over with her presence of honesty within a sea of lies and villainous personalities. Carrie Coon also acts as a voice of reason while playing Nick’s twin sister.
The movie stayed mostly true to the book, but there were noticeable differences. Both Nick and Amy Dunne in the book wrote diary entries to tell the two sides of the story. In the movie, only Amy’s diary entries are revealed.
Detective Boney and her sidekick Gilpin were featured many times throughout the film. Flynn did not have the officers playing quite as big a role through her novel. The two add humor to the very dramatic storyline.
When Amy stages the crime scene in the kitchen during the movie, she siphons blood into a bucket and dumps it onto the floor. In the book, the author made the picture much more painful and striking as she cuts herself and almost bleeds to death on purpose.
The method Amy uses to murder Desi is shockingly different in the movie. He is brutally slashed across the throat with a box cutter during sex and bleeds all over Amy. Flynn had Amy drug him with sleeping pills before killing him.
‘Gone Girl’ proves to be a well-written story through its film portrayal.
An outstanding cast, dramatic turns, and graphic scenes collectively support the film’s success from the novel no one could put down.
