So, as my awesome colleagues went partying on Halloween night, I decided to follow tradition and do something *actually* scary. And no, I didn’t watch Humshakals or something, but I finally went for the movie I have been waiting to see for a year now – Gone Girl! As I had been geeking out over this amazing adaptation of the spine chilling book, my excitement and expectations were as high as Burj Khalifa and as expected, Gone Girl lived up to all that and MORE! Check out the 10 reasons why this movie left me awestruck.
1) Rosamund Pike as Amazing Amy
When Rosamund Pike was cast for the title role of the ‘girl‘ Amy Dunne, who is popularly known as Amazing Amy, me (and I’m sure many other people), had to read up about her on Wikipedia. Seriously, no one really knew about Rosamund barring her role as Jane Bennet in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, but after this movie… things are going to change in a BIG way! All I can say without giving much away is that no one could play Amy better than she did!
2) Ben Affleck’s perfect Nick Dunne
As skeptical as I was when Rosamund was cast as Amy Dunne, my reaction was completely the opposite when I heard about Ben Affleck being cast as Nick Dunne. How do I say this? Ben is the perfect Nick, it’s like the role has been tailor made for him! Plus, he did such a good job that we have forgiven and forgotten Daredevil.
3) The story
Only a story this twisted can make me fangirl so much.
4) The background score
Hear it to believe it!
5) Tanner Bolt
Nick’s smooth, fast talking and brilliant lawyer, Tanner Bolt played by Tyler Perry was spot on! He is undoubtedly the star of the second half! I really don’t want to elaborate at the risk of giving stuff away, but watch out for this guy.
6) Cool Girl
The author, Gillian Flynn had written wonderful paragraphs on demystifying this phenomena called the ‘Cool Girl‘. As awesome as it is in the book, it was rather hard to show this rant about women pretending to be ‘cool‘ to attract the man they want on-screen, but it was shown brilliantly. I’ll admit the impact of this important extract won’t be as much in the movie than it is in the book, but the point is put across perfectly.
7) David Fincher’s direction
David Fincher has made Se7en, Fight Club, The Social Network, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Your argument of him not directing Gone Girl well enough (that is, if you have an argument) is invalid.
8) The sensational news coverage
Gone Girl is definitely about twisted protagonists and a toxic marriage, but that does not undermine the fact that the book/movie is also a take on the ‘media circus‘ which gets created during any major event in any part of the world. The depiction of a trial by media (before a certain case even reaches the courts) is both hilarious and horrifying!
9) Margo
Carrie Coon played Margo Dunne, Nick’s no-nonsense, tough sister – and in my opinion the only character who has a good heart – wonderfully! Hope to see more of her in big-budget movies.
10) The perfect adaptation
Notwithstanding a few changes, Gone Girl was a perfect adaptation of the best-selling book it’s based on and lovers of Gillian Flynn’s writing will not be disappointed one bit! It helps that she herself has written the screenplay, but let’s just say that this movie will keep you hooked.
If you haven’t read the book, check out these things you should know before you watch the movie. Don’t worry, it’s spoiler free 🙂